Firm will focus on container feeder ships

Firm will focus on container feeder ships A new public shipping company said it will focus on investing in container feeder ships.
   Arcade Acquisition Co. last week agreed to acquire 10 containerships, six from Palmosa Shipping Corp. and four from companies managed by Tsakos Shipping and Trading, for $261.7 million.
   The company plans to rename itself Conbulk Corp. and will be in the business of owning ships that it charters to container liner companies.
   The company was formed last year as a “blank check” acquisition company and raised $69 million in public stock offering.
   In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it said it expects to acquire up to eight more vessels by early 2011.
   Container shipping is “underrepresented in the public market,” the company said, with “no public company focusing on smaller vessels providing feeder service.”
   There are “attractive supply/demand dynamics of vessels used in feeder services,” it said, added it will focus on ships that have capacities of less than 4,000 TEUs.
   The company said its initial fleet includes ships ranging in size from 1,370 TEUs to 2,075 TEUs. Five of the ships are chartered to Mediterranean Shipping Co., four to the Cheng Lie subsidiary of CMA CGM, and one to the Chilean Shipping company CCNI.