Erasmus Shipinvest

Handy opportunities

John Su’s Erasmus Shipinvest has been busy covering all dry bulk bases

John Su, the wily Athens-based Chinese shipping entrepreneur, has spent the last couple of years building up a handy fleet to go alongside his larger bulkers. In conversation with Maritime CEO, he says he’s on the hunt for more Japanese tonnage as and when the right opportunity comes his way. The aim is to navigate dry bulk’s notorious volatility and become a comprehensive dry bulk tonnage provider in all sizes.

“In my personal opinion, volatility will continue in the dry bulk shipping market for the next 12 months but overall I’m cautiously optimistic,” says the founder and president of Erasmus Shipinvest.

Covid-19 lockdowns and the growing trade tensions between the US and China are very much on Su’s radar as two things that could pour “cold water” for the dry bulk market.

On the plus side, Su, a Dalian Maritime University graduate, points to the historically low dry bulk orderbook combined with the scarcity of ship financing options as keeping a lid on the supply/demand picture.

Erasmus recently expanded its handysize fleet through the acquisition of the 2015-built 34,500 dwt bulker Pegasus Ocean from

Spot on Erasmus Shipinvest

Athens-based dry bulk player led by Chinese national, John Su. Mixed fleet today stands in excess of 20 ships.

Mitsubishi Corporation’s MC Shipping.

Su’s company first entered the handysize segment at the end of 2018, adding to its traditional gearless larger bulker business. As of today, the company controls 12 handysizes, including several pending deliveries.

Su says the motivation behind this handy move was to establish a presence covering all segments of dry bulk shipping, opening the company to a more diverse set of cargo possibilities.

“We’ll still maintain our existence in the ultramax, panamax and capesize fields for further expansion when we see a feasible project in demand from our major commodities customers,” Su says.

Today, the Erasmus fleet stands in excess of 20 ships with a total capacity close to 1.5m dwt.

Su uses the Maritime CEO platform to lash out at the many nations who have prevented crew changes in recent months and yet punished owners and managers for having staff onboard for too long.

“As we all know, it’s not the owner or manager who doesn’t want to make crew changes even with huge extra costs, instead it’s largely due to each individual country’s own immigration policy during the pandemic,” Su maintains.

Greater collaboration among key maritime nations is needed to solve the issue, Su says.

Su reveals that Erasmus has been working closely with its commodities trading customers to find locations in Asia in which to deviate to in order to get crew moving.

If only more charterers were willing to go the extra mile for the people delivering their goods. ●