Debt-free Vafias expands wager on dry bulk

·         A 100-ship fleet across five companies is now debt-free after prepayment of last loan

·         Brave buys Seacon handysize hard on heels of acquisition of MUR trio

·         Handysize bulkers ‘a no-brainer’ says busy deal maker

·         22 Oct 2025

Greek shipping group adds four more handysize acquisitions to Brave Maritime’s growing bulker fleet

VAFIAS Group has achieved a decades-old ‘dream’ in achieving debt-free status, it has confirmed, even as it continues a fleet expansion with further dry bulk carrier buys.

The milestone is all the more notable for encompassing about 100 unencumbered vessels of various types across five different companies, two of them privately held and three publicly listed.

Nasdaq-listed liquefied petroleum gas carrier owner StealthGas paid off the loan on a last bank-financed vessel in July this year, while the zero-debt status of spin-offs Imperial Petroleum and C3is Inc. have also been a matter of public record.

But shipowner Harry Vafias has confirmed to Lloyd’s List that the privately owned bulker and tanker fleet under family companies Brave Maritime and Stealth Maritime has also freed itself of bank debt.

Just two years ago, the total debt of the group and public affiliates came to $1.1bn.

Although many Greece-based shipowners in the last few years have opted to use excess market earnings to prepay loans during a period of relatively high interest rates, few will have completely wiped out debt on such a large fleet, especially while managing to expand at a rapid clip.

Brave has just clinched the acquisition of a nine-year-old, Japanese-controlled handysize bulker, Seacon Manila (IMO: 9766231), for $17.2m, according to sources familiar with the deal.

The 33,412 dwt vessel was built by Shin Kochi Heavy Industries.

Vafias declined to confirm the latest transaction, but verified reports that the company has acquired a trio of similar handies of about 34,400 dwt, from MUR Shipping.

African Goshawk (IMO: 9728485), African Heron (IMO: 9750000) and African Merlin (IMO: 9701267), all constructed by Namura Shipbuilding in 2016, are being purchased for a price of $17.4m each.

The four latest purchases, which are all scheduled to be delivered before the end of this year, bring the Brave Maritime-managed fleet to about 40 bulkers, up from a group tally of just 11 bulkers three years ago.

Handysize bulkers were “a no-brainer” at the moment, Vafias said.

Last year, the company purchased five kamsarmaxes and five supramaxes, but secondhand prices in these segments had risen, while handysizes had remained lower, as well as having a smaller orderbook.

“They are more versatile ships and at the moment they are earning close to $19,000 per day on the spot market. They are earning more than kamsarmaxes,” he said.

“We try to identify small niches that represent good value and to move quickly.”

Over the summer the owner was also buying product tankers, applying similar principles.

The group is reckoned to have been the most active secondhand buyer over the last two years from the Greek shipowning community, which has dominated secondhand buying along with Chinese interests.

Despite the regularity of its deal-making, it has almost entirely eschewed Chinese-built vessels and has focused strongly on Japanese-built tonnage.

Vafias said about 70% of the fleet was constructed in Japan with the balance in South Korea, with the exception of a solitary Chinese built vessel.

Currently, the group’s fleet, including both privately owned and publicly listed fleets, has an estimated value of about $2.8bn.

He said that being debt-free gave the group, above all, “freedom — and a lot of flexibility”.

It meant that “we have a lower break-even rate than the competition and we can raise debt at any time if we want to”, he added.

According to Vafias, the inspiration for eradicating debt was planted back in the mid-1990s by compatriot shipowner Thanassis Martinos of Eastern Mediterranean Maritime.

“He told us [Harry together with father Nicholas Vafias, who is still active in the business] that he had a debt-free fleet.

“That was 30 years ago and we were so far away from something like that, it seemed like a dream,” he said.

Source: Lloyd’s List