Newly-Formed GriegMaas JV Acquires Its Fourth Bulker

Recently-established dry bulk joint venture GriegMaas has purchased another Chinese-built Ultramax unit, according to shipbrokers.

The vessel in question is the 2012-built GH Rough Habit and was purchased from Denmark-based Celsius Shipping for a reported price of USD 16.5 million.

GriegMaas also bought GH Rough Habit’s sister vessel GH Frankel from Celsius Shipping in June this year.

Established by Norwegian shipping company Grieg Star and Dutch investment management firm Maas Capital in December 2018, the joint venture has so far acquired four ships. The first two units, 58,000 dwt Supramaxes Star Athena and Star Eracle, were sold to GriegMaas in early January 2019.

All four units were built by China’s Yangzhou Dayang Shipbuilding in 2012.

G2 Ocean, a Gearbulk and Grieg Star joint venture, will be responsible for the commercial management of the vessels, while Grieg Star will provide corporate and ship management services to GriegMaas.

Back in January this year, GriegMaas said it planned further expansion of the fleet in 2019 without specifying the number of ships it would aim to buy.

“GriegMaas will further strengthen our position within the Supramax and Ultramax segments, and thus further strengthen G2 Ocean’s Bulk activities,” Camilla Grieg, Grieg Star CEO, said at the time.