Berge Bulk has lined up the first capesize recycling deal of the year by selling one of its oldest bulkers for green recycling in Bangladesh. On 11 February, the Singapore-based bulker giant sold the 172,000-dwt Berge Aoraki (built 2003) to PHP Shipbreaking and Recycling Industries, Bangladesh’s only certified green recycling facility. Following Berge Bulk’s lead, Voyager Trading & Investment, a Chinese-backed investment vehicle based in Hong Kong, was reported by brokers on Monday to have sold its 171,000-dwt Alam Cetus (built 2003) to cash buyers for onward sale to an as-yet undisclosed destination.

Brokers told TradeWinds that given the relatively healthy rates still being enjoyed in the capesize sector, both would have been able to find a trading buyer willing to pay a small premium over their scrap value, but their owners elected to sell them for recycling instead. The Berge Aoraki was reported sold on a green scrapping basis for $642 per ldt, or $13.5m. This is the same value that VesselsValue pegs on it as a trading vessel, although slightly below the fair market value that MSI Horizon estimates for the current quarter. VesselsValue data indicates that Berge Bulk, which has been steadily selling off its older capesize bulkers, has a strong preference for selling its ships only for recycling. The platforms’ data on the company shows that it has not sold a ship for further trading since 2014. However, between 2014 and 2022, it sold 20 capesize bulkers for recycling, with Bangladesh accounting for 13 of those ships.

Berge Bulk’s ship recycling policy posted on its website also indicated a strong preference for recycling over trading sales. “Berge Bulk has rigorous maintenance and repair processes to ensure that our vessels are used as efficiently as possible for as long as possible. As we add newer, more efficient vessels to our fleet, we consciously retire those that are older, less efficient, and have reached the end of their economic life. Ship recycling is the most environmentally efficient solution for disposing of old vessels,” the policy statement said. The recycling policy also said that as from the end of 2021, the company would only sell vessels to facilities that were certified as compliant with the requirements of the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.

PHP, where the Berge Aoraki will be recycled , was certified as such by ClassNK in January 2020. PHP managing director Mohammed Zahirul Islam, who has frequently complained that the unwillingness of owners to accept a premium for green recycling has served as a strong deterrent for other Bangladeshi recycling facilities to follow suit. He said he was therefore very pleased that Berge Bulk had selected PHP to recycle the Berge Aoraki. “I would like to thank Berge Bulk for choosing a Hong Kong Convention-compliant facility to recycle their ship. I hope more shipowners will follow them when they send their ships for recycling,” Islam stated.

Pricing details for the Alam Cetus deal have yet to emerge in the market. Voyager Trading could not be reached for comment on the deal.