The heat in the second-hand dry bulk carrier market continues to rise. Greek shipping company DryDel Shipping sold a 2021-built ultramax bulk carrier at a record price for vessels of the same age, with second-hand prices approaching the cost of newbuilds of the same type.
Not long ago, DryDel Shipping sold a 63,700 dwt vessel for USD 38 million. The ship was previously owned by Imabari Shipbuilding affiliate Shoei Kisen and had been on a long-term time charter to DryDel Shipping since July 2021. DryDel Shipping CEO Costas Delaportas confirmed that the company acquired the vessel by exercising a purchase option in the original charter and then resold it.
Costas Delaportas stated: “This transaction is part of the company’s fleet renewal strategy. We locked in the vessel at a low price through an option in the early stage, and this sale has brought considerable gains to the company’s balance sheet.” This is the sixth second-hand ultramax transaction completed by DryDel Shipping since last June. Costas Delaportas said the USD 38 million sale price fully reflects the current strong dry bulk market conditions, and this deal also proves that continuous asset value appreciation can be created through rigorous asset management and long-term fleet optimization. Costas Delaportas has always strictly controlled the average fleet age and continuously deployed new-generation, energy-efficient vessel types. This sale is an important step in implementing this strategy.
James Benali, an analyst at the globally renowned maritime consultancy Maritime Strategies International (MSI), pointed out that the core support for the surge in demand for second-hand ultramax vessels is the丰厚 spot freight rates. “From January to April 2026, spot earnings for this vessel type rose by approximately 13%, continuously attracting market capital to enter.” The current market prefers acquiring second-hand vessels rather than ordering newbuilds. In its latest dry bulk market report, MSI mentioned that major shipyards prioritize high-value-added orders such as tankers, and berth resources for ultramax vessels are tight, with no available delivery slots until at least 2029.
Multiple analysts believe the USD 38 million transaction price sets a global record for a 5-year-old ultramax vessel. Rebecca Galanopoulos, an analyst at Veson Nautical, a leading global provider of maritime commercial software and data services, commented: “The sale price of this vessel has set a historical record; a 5-year-old ultramax has never fetched such a high price. Currently, the newbuilding cost for a 63,000 dwt ultramax is approximately USD 40.55 million, and the second-hand price of this vessel reached 94% of the newbuilding price, an extremely rare market performance.” MSI added that there is currently an inversion in the second-hand market, with the valuation of a 5-year-old ultramax being about 4% higher than the newbuilding price. “When the shipping market is booming, it is common for the price of a second-hand vessel less than one year old to be higher than the newbuilding cost, but for a five-year-old vessel to sell at a price close to or slightly exceeding that of a newbuild is an extremely rare market phenomenon.”
