Pioneer Marine expands with supramax addition

Greek bulker operator Pioneer Marine has revealed a new addition to its fleet with the delivery of a 2014-built supramax.

The Athens-based company has welcomed the 56,500 dwt Myra Bay – the former V Rich brokers earlier this year reported as sold to an unnamed Greek buyer in a deal worth between $18m and $19m. 

The Jiangsu Hantong-built unit, picked up from Chinese owner Weiye Shipping, takes Pioneer’s fleet to 10 geared bulkers according to the company’s website.

Pioneer was founded in 2013 by Pankaj Khanna, former CEO of DryShips, with the support of a US investment fund and listed on the Norwegian OTC in 2014. The company’s top executives, Jim Papoulis and Korinna Tapaktsoglou, were part of the team that replaced Khanna in 2017 and subsequently took over Pioneer, and with the support of affiliated investors acquired eight vessels from the existing fleet in 2021.