New York-listed Greek boxship owner Costamare has joined the rush of shipowners taking advantage of the strong dry bulk market with the acquisition of 16 bulkers.

The vessels range between 33,000 dwt and 85,000 dwt, and have an average age of 10 years. Costamare says the vessels are currently operating in the spot market, with two of the ships already delivered and the rest to be delivered by January 2022.

The company did not reveal the identity of the ships or sellers, however Splash reported Costamare’s entry into the dry sector last month with the acquisition of two kamsarmaxes from Safe Bulkers and an additional kamsarmax from Japan’s Shunzan Kaiun.

Gregory Zikos, chief financial officer of Costamare, said: “We are pleased to announce the acquisition of dry bulk vessels. We have decided to invest in a liquid sector with strong fundamentals that provide enhanced return opportunities for our shareholders.

“The ships will be managed through our existing platform headed and enriched by the dry bulk Onassis team, who will be joining Costamare in July.”

The acquisitions will be funded by a mix of cash on hand and commercial bank debt.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Norway’s Tor Olav Trøim has created new dry bulk ship owning entity Himalaya with an initial outlay of $800m to order 12 newbuildings.

“This is very reminiscent of the structural upswing we saw in shipping between 2003 and 2008,” Trøim told Oslo-based newspaper Finansavisen, discussing the current supply and demand situation in dry cargo .

Other market movers include Ed Buttery’s Taylor Maritime, which raised cash via a listing on the London Stock Exchange to expand its dry bulk fleet, and Petros Panagiotidis led Nasdaq-listed Castor Maritime which has added 12 bulkers to its fleet so far this year.