Sale of newbuildings to AD Ports Group’s shipping arm is another win for Greek-Danish
partnership
Two years after divesting four tanker newbuildings at a huge mark-up, long-term partners
European Maritime Finance (EMF) and Atlas Maritime repeated the trick with a pair of car
carriers.
The sale reported by TradeWinds on Thursday to Noatum Maritime — the shipping arm of
Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group — represents a remarkable asset play.
EMF and Atlas, which have been cooperating on more than 20 oil, gas and car carrier
newbuildings, achieved a profit of at least $30m on each of the two vessels.
In an email to TradeWinds, EMF founder Martin Haugaard confirmed that the 7,000-ceu
Electric Star and Green Star (both built 2025) were ordered at $84.3m each and sold for more
than $115m.
“We are not disclosing the exact sales price, but investor returns are approaching mid-double-
digit levels, which we consider very acceptable given the timing of the orders placed back in
March 2022 through Clarksons in Oslo,” Haugaard said.
The financier did not omit to express appreciation for Athens-based Atlas, which has been
“in charge of the brilliant negotiations with the buyers”.
The car carriers generated an even higher profit margin than the four tanker newbuildings the
partnership flipped more than two years ago.
Atlas and EMF ordered the car carriers and the tankers at decade-low newbuilding prices
during the pandemic.
Atlas chief executive Leon Patitsas said: “The Electric Star was ordered during the low point
of the [pure car/truck carrier] market amid Covid-19, which was a contrarian approach.”
This is in line with the standard policy established by the traditional Greek owner.
“When the market peaks, we have the discipline to sell,” Patitsas told TradeWinds in a
previous interview.
“We’re not here just to keep assets forever and scrap them — we’re here to be opportunistic
and take advantage of rising markets,” the grandson of legendary player Leon Lemos added.
According to Haugaard, no decision has yet been taken about the sale of the remaining two
LNG dual-fuel car carriers the partnership has on order at Chinese builder CIMC Raffles.
A global trade war unleashed by the US tariffs has changed the landscape since late last year,
when the deal to sell the initial two car carriers was agreed.
“This was certainly not the environment we saw back in October 2024,” Haugaard said.
EMF and Atlas ordered the car carriers based on expectations that demand would rebound
after Covid — particularly for electric vehicles from China.
“Our thesis proved correct … consequently, the demand for car carriers increased, driving up
asset values,” Atlas said.
According to Haugaard, this investment thesis still holds, despite the current upheaval.
“We believe the currently proposed tariffs will most likely be adjusted and reduced going
forward,” he told TradeWinds.
“Our overall view on the PCTC market remains bullish despite the current volatility.”
“We firmly believe electric vehicles are here to stay, and the sector’s underlying
fundamentals continue to support our long-term investment strategy.”
The full article is available on TradeWinds