Perseverance Marine was founded in 1998 with the purchase of the small, elderly product tanker Nejmat El Petrol XXV. Since then we have successfully invested in various ship types, including tankers, refrigerated cargo ships (“reefers”), bulk carriers and off-shore service vessels. We have owned ships outright and in partnerships or syndicates. A snapshot of our activities over the past seven years is indicative. By late 2005, we had exited at a peak in the reefer market and redeployed the profits into a series of partnerships, including:
We make our money by value investing: by not doing what every other operator does. To that end, we research mismatches where, say, smaller vessel prices have been unduly discounted due to a supply overhang mainly affecting larger sizes of the type. Not all ship sizes are alike. We have a track record of partnering with experienced, shrewd operators who themselves love what Warren Buffet calls “quality merchandise at knocked-down prices.” Some of the partners in our current project portfolio include Carisbrooke, operators of one of the world’s largest “mini-bulker” fleets; Norbulk, which undertakes technical management for over 80 vessels of all types, and is a substantial ship investor in its own right (www.norbulkshipping.com); and one of Europe’s largest private shipowning firms.