Agricore, a busy ship-owning company from China, is actively buying and selling ships. They are currently looking for ships built around 2010 and selling their smaller vessels. The company has a strong focus on the capesize segment, having acquired its fourth capesize ship in five months while selling two smaller ships in the same period.
Recently, Agricore has made three private deals. They acquired a 2010-built capesize ship named Seamate, now renamed ASL Sun, from Thenamaris. They also bought a 2009-built capesize ship named Enco Ommodus from Korean owner Sinkor, renaming it ASL Loong. This ship cost Agricore about $22.5 million.
Aloy’s company, Ebe, bought the ship for a bit over $26 million in 2016 and has made significant profits from it. Ebe Shipping, based in Belgium, has a fleet of Japanese bulk carriers, and after selling El Grasso, they still have four ultramax ships with an average age of six years.
In December, Agricore purchased the 178,000 dwt ship ASL Polaris, formerly known as Mineral Ningbo (built in 2009), from Bocimar for about $20 million.
Agricore is also selling its 82,000 dwt kamsarmax ship, ASL Uranus, which was built in 2008 at Oshima Shipbuilding. This ship sold for over $17 million, after being bought from Korean company Cido for a little over $13 million in 2021. Earlier this year, Agricore sold an older panamax ship built in 2002.
Founded in 2016 and based in Qingdao, Agricore started as a chartering company and moved into ship ownership in 2018. Today, it is a diversified company with a growing fleet of ships.