The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) of South Korea announced on March 19 that it authorized 'Asia-Pacific 20' ship investment company, a private ship fund on March 15.
Asia-Pacific 20 would draw about overall KRW 68bn ($60.2m) from financial institutes and private equity investors and place new orders for two 58,000-dwt bulkers to be constructed at South Korea's Samjin Shipbuilding Industries-affiliated yard in Weihai, China.
The two newbuildings would be chartered out to PSI Shipping and Courier of the US under bare boat charter with hire purchase (BBC/HP) agreement for 13 years and Daelim Corporation of South Korea would re-charter the vessels under BBC agreement for 13 years.
Officials from MLTM said, "Under a troubled shipping market, we have authorized a total of five private ship funds this year, including the recent one."