Zhang Yuqiang’s Yuchen Logistics has entered shipowning through a deal to buy a modern general cargo vessel from China’s Seacon Shipping.
Hong Kong-listed Seacon said the unnamed 13,500-dwt ship, built in 2023, had gone to the Singapore buyer for $19m.
Seacon had been chartering the ship on a bareboat basis from an unnamed lease financing owner.
Seacon is exercising a purchase option to take control of the vessel before selling it, with the deal set to close by year-end.
Yuchen Logistics is 72.3% owned by billionaire Zhang. His business includes fibreglass products for wind energy, special steel, new composite materials, logistics, minerals, tourism and real estate, according to his Bloomberg profile.
Seacon describes the buyer as principally engaged in shipowning, but it does not appear in shipping databases.
The cargo ship made a profit of $185,000 in 2023.
Seacon said its audited net book value was $17.7m as of 31 December.
The repurchase option price has not been given.
Seacon said its directors consider the transaction “represents an opportunity to dispose of the vessel at a reasonable price, which will enable the group to enhance its working capital position, further strengthen its liquidity, and provide funding for the acquisition of new vessels to optimise the group’s fleet portfolio”.
It added: “The company will continuously review the prevailing market conditions of the shipping industry and monitor and adjust the group’s fleet profile as appropriate.”
Earlier this month, Seacon financed one of its new handysize bulk carriers with a leaseback deal in Japan.
The company said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing that it had sold a 40,000-dwt bulker to Dawn Shipping in Panama for $31.4m.
The buyer is controlled by a Japanese guarantor, an unnamed technical ship management company operating bulkers and general cargo vessels.
The ultimate beneficial owner is Kohei Kondo.
The ship will be bareboat-chartered back to Seacon over 10 years.(Copyright)
