On Friday several of thefirms that send out weekly industry updates told clients that Doun Kisen of Japan has offloaded the 180,000-dwt FD Luigi D’Amato(built 2006) for $41m.

Some brokers said thevessel was picked up by Greek interests and others argued that it was acquiredby CarVal Investors, a claim the Cargill-backed fund manager has denied.

This has led torenewed speculation that the US firm may have forged some kind of alliance withan Athens-based owner or enlisted a Hellenic partner to identify acquisitioncandidates.

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