Oldendorff Boosts Babycape Fleet

German shipping company Oldendorff Carriers has decided to further expand its Babycape fleet by buying four and taking two bulkers on a period charter.

As informed, the four 115,000 dwt ships have been bought from companies controlled by Interorient Navigation from Cyprus.

The bulk carriers in question are Orient Sun, Orient Strength, Orient Crusader and Orient Champion. They will be renamed Pia Oldendorff, Peter Oldendorff, Penelope Oldendorff and Patricia Oldendorff, respectively.

The 2013-built Orient Sun was already delivered to Oldendorff at Zhoushan on April 20, according to the company.

In addition, the two chartered-in sister vessels, Orient Centaur and Orient Cavalier, have been taken also from Interorient.

The ships were previously operated in a pool with Dampskibsselskabet NORDEN A/S. All of them were built by China’s shipbuilder New Times Shipbuilding between 2010 and 2013.

“The deals will boost our Babycape fleet under operation to 40 ships, including 14 owned units. We are currently in the process of increasing the deadweight capacity of our 8 x 118,500 dwt “R” class Babycapes to around 122,000 dwt,” Oldendorff Carriers said.

Within the Capesize segment, Oldendorff operates in two classes, namely the Newcastlemaxes and the Babycapes.