Harry Vafias defends Greek S&P pole position with fresh string of bulker buys
Greek owner’s private bulker arm has agreed to acquire at least three Japanese-built vessels
Harry Vafias speaks at the TradeWinds Shipowners Forum Greece in Athens this year.Harry Vafias speaks at the TradeWinds Shipowners Forum Greece in Athens this year.
Harry Vafias, an avowed fan of Japanese tonnage, has widened his lead as the busiest Greek buyer of secondhand ships this year, with a deal for three vessels.
The Athens-based owner’s private bulker arm, Brave Maritime, has agreed in principle to acquire a handysize trio put up for sale by MUR Shipping, according to ship management and broking sources.
Harry Vafias, principal of the Stealth group of companies attends the TradeWinds Shipowners Forum Greece 2025 in Athens.
The price for the 34,400-dwt African Merlin, African Heron and African Goshawk (all built 2016) is said to be a combined $51.5m.
All three vessels have been trading with the Netherlands and Dubai-based MUR since their delivery from Japan’s Namura Shipbuilding nine years ago.
The modern eco bulkers are due to pass their special survey next year.
The deal, if finalised, will bolster Vafias’s already prominent position as one of the world’s busiest secondhand dealmakers and the biggest buyer in his home country, Greece.
TradeWinds data show the owner’s family acquiring 25 bulkers since early 2023 for a total estimated outlay of close to $500m.
This has effectively tripled the size of the Vafias bulker fleet to 40 vessels — mostly held on its private side — in less than two years.
Nine of these deals took place this year alone, as TradeWinds already reported.
The group’s tanker arm, Stealth Maritime, joined in the buying earlier this year, swooping on four product tankers from Peter Georgiopoulos-led United Overseas Group and Italy’s d’Amico International Shipping for about $65m in total.
The group’s latest handysize acquisitions are in line with its general policy to concentrate on Japanese-built vessels and avoid Chinese ones.
Almost all the nearly 100 ships with the Vafias Group’s two private and three US-listed companies were built in Japan and South Korea.
What began as a business decision to focus on such vessels due to their market premium and higher liquidity has acquired an added geopolitical edge, as they are exempt from US punitive measures against China.
The decision to swoop on the MUR trio likely also reflects a desire to expand further in that particular ship category, which has seen no value appreciation over the past few months.
Furthermore, handysizes currently have the smallest orderbook among all bulker segments.
Vessels under construction represent only 8.7% of the existing handysize fleet, compared with the overall bulker average of 10.7%, Clarksons data shows.
Photo: TradeWinds Events
Harry Papachristou
TradeWinds correspondentAthens
