KJ Maritime Shipping AD with headquarters in Sofia has been the sole bidder to have passed the eligibility test for the buy-out of Navigation Maritime Bulgare, Privatisation Agency (PA) head Todor Nikolov told media on Friday.

Of all three competing bidders, only KJ met all requirements laid out in the NMB privatisation strategy.

KJ is a company, 70 per cent of whose capital is in the hands of a strategic investor, where Martrade Shipping Transport GmbH is a charterer with 99 per cent of the capital and one per cent is with an Indian ship operator.

Bulgaria's Advance Properties is owner of the remainder of KJ stock.

The two other bidders – Mumbai, India-based Essar Shipping & Logistics Ltd. and Greece's Chartworld Shipping Corporation were found in-compliant with the charterer and own ships' deadweight requirements.

Nikolov said that the time for NMB privatisation was ripe as the price of ships on international markets, second-hand included, was on the rise.
The PA should be in a hurry with regard to NMB because projections see that in two years' time charterers would be on the lookout for new ships alone. The average age of NMB fleet is 20 years.

Since the privatisation procedure has been left with a single contender, the sales procedure is likely to be shortened. Therefore, negotiations with the preferred bidder could kick off already in February next year.