S&P desk
Buying or selling a ship in Africa means finding the counterparty, agreeing a price the market supports, inspecting the vessel where it lies, drawing the memorandum of agreement and delivering the ship with her class, flag and documents in order. Maingate Shipping's sale and purchase desk in Mombasa does this for owners, operators, governments and first-time buyers across the continent.
The desk handles second-hand tonnage of the kinds that trade and work in African waters: tugs and workboats, coastal and general cargo vessels, handysize and supramax bulk carriers, product tankers, fishing vessels, ferries, offshore supply craft and barges.
The buyer's requirement is turned into a search across owners, brokers and yards. Candidate vessels are presented with particulars, class records and trading history. We arrange inspection where the vessel lies, negotiate the price and terms, and manage the memorandum of agreement, deposit, closing and delivery. Where finance, flag registration or a new class society is involved, we coordinate the parties.
The vessel is presented to the buyers most likely to want her, with particulars, photographs and class status. Offers are handled discreetly, negotiations run to a firm memorandum, and delivery is arranged at the agreed place with the documents the buyer's flag will accept.
Owners and lenders ask the desk for desktop valuations and for advice on whether to sell, keep or scrap. The answer draws on recent fixtures and sales in the region and on the state of the vessel as we know it from agency calls.
Maingate Shipping Limited is a ship agency, crew management and ship brokerage company based at Express Building on Moi Avenue in Mombasa, Kenya, serving vessels at Kenyan ports since 2020 and coordinating port calls across Africa through its agency line. The company attends bulk carriers, tankers, container ships, car carriers, cruise ships, fishing, offshore and naval vessels at Mombasa and Lamu, places Kenyan seafarers with owners worldwide, and fixes dry bulk, tanker and project tonnage for East African cargoes.
One instruction to the desk covers the port call, the crew, the fuel and the account, and the same office answers the master and the principal at any hour.
Yes. Many of our enquiries come from operators buying their first tug, ferry or coastal vessel, and the desk walks them through the process from specification to delivery.
We advise sellers on the recycling option when it is the right one and introduce recognised cash buyers; we do not run recycling yards.
Sale and purchase commission is agreed in the usual market form and set out in the memorandum of agreement.
Receipts behind every line, a record behind every stoppage, a desk behind every call.
Related desks on the same instruction line.
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Maingate Shipping Limited · Express Building, Moi Avenue, Mombasa, Kenya · ops@maingateshipping.com · +254 784 622 091