The company may have to consider a name-change, as it now has
only four capesizes, plus the 182,000-dwt vessels contracted at Japan Marine
United (JMU) on Wednesday.
The ships are of the latest fuel-efficienct design, with
delivery expected during 2015.
No price was given, but the board said it was “of the opinion
that it has obtained favourable terms and attractive pricing”.
Fredriksen paid $46.75m each for four similar ships at STX
Dalian in China in January.
Knightsbridge added: “After a period of oversupply, but still with solid
demand growth, utilisation of the dry bulk fleet is expected to improve at
the time of delivery of the newbuildings.”
It said the 298,000-dwt VLCC Mayfair (built 1995) has gone to an unnamed
third party, with the company expecting to book a loss of $5.3m from the deal. Cash
proceeds are $4m.
TradeWinds reported in December that brokers were saying Mayfair had been
bought by Russian oil company Rosneft for $23.5m.
It is valued at only $18.5m by Vesselsvalue.com.
