The company declines to comment on whether it has acquired the Shin Kurushima-built geared bulker, which online platform VesselsValue.com prices at $8m.

Team Fuel, founded in 1998 and run by Themis Hatjioannou and her daughters, Elpida and Toula, deals exclusively in handysizes and handymaxes.

Its most recent reported purchase was the Japanese-built, 24,000-dwt Team Quest (built 1997), acquired in October 2013 for $6.2m.