Japanese shipping company Sanko Steamship, has completed the sale of the “Sanko Hawking”, the last bulk carrier of the company, marking the official withdrawal of Sanko Steamship from the ranks of shipowners. Last month, Top management at Sanko told the Japan Maritime Daily that the company would exit shipowning by saliling its last ship.
Sanko Hawking was built and delivered by Japan’s Tsuneishi Shipbuilding in 2021, with a deadweight of 82,000 tons and equipped with a desulphurization tower. Sanko Steamship sold the vessel for less than $42 million to an undisclosed Greek shipping company.
Sanko Steamship has experienced many ups and downs since its founding in 1934, and in the 1980s it became one of the biggest cases of closure in the shipping industry. However, the company did not fall, and in 2012, despite facing bankruptcy again, Sanko Steamship, which owned about 185 vessels at that time, impressed the shipping industry with its green hull logo. And the company was reborn in December 2014 after completing a reorganization under the protection of the court.
At its peak, Sanko Steamship operated a diverse fleet of approximately 185 vessels, including tankers, dry bulk carriers, offshore vessels, and ultra-large liquefied gas carriers (VLGCs), as one of the largest privately owned shipping companies in Japan.
However, in October 2023, Sanko Steamship decided to sell an 11-year-old Panamax bulk carrier, Sanko Fortune, to an undisclosed Greek owner for $21 million. At that moment, Sanko’s fleet is down to only one bulk carrier “Sanko Hawking” of 82,514 deadweight tons built in 2021.
Today, Sanko Steamship, which once stood at the top of Japan’s shipping field, sold its only remaining bulk carrier, zeroed out its fleet, and retired from the market in disgrace.
