NORDEN Cashes in on Rising Dry Cargo Asset Values

Danish shipowner NORDEN said its asset management division—which handles buying, selling and leasing of dry cargo and product tanker vessels—is capitalizing on rising asset values in the dry cargo market through vessel sales.

Since the start of the year asset prices for vessels in the dry cargo market have increased by around 80%, which by the end of Q2 had resulted in a rise of more than $350 million in the market value of NORDEN’s portfolio of owned and leased vessels, the company said.

Having actively shifted exposure of the portfolio away from tankers to dry cargo during the past 18 months with the sale of six tanker vessels and purchase of 13 dry cargo vessels, NORDEN is now converting the added market value to profit through vessels sales. In recent months, seven dry cargo vessels have been sold, including both Panamax and Supramax vessels.

“The dry cargo market has been soaring this year due to a combination of a restart of demand after COVID-19 and major inefficiencies in ports around the world; coupled with one of the lowest order books on record,” said Henrik Lykkegaard Madsen, NORDEN's head of asset management. “We saw an opportunity to capitalize on these market developments.”

NORDEN expects to see continued positive development in the dry cargo market, Madsen said: “We are still positive on the dry cargo market outlook, and we have significant upside to further asset price gains through 16 owned dry cargo vessels and 50 purchase options in our leased dry cargo fleet.”