LONDON (Bloomberg) — Bermuda-based Golden Ocean Group Ltd., a raw-materials shipping company spun off from Frontline Ltd., sold a commodities carrier for a “positive result” of $10.8 million.The line sold Golden Dena, a so-called panamax vessel with a carrying capacity of just below 75,000 deadweight tons, to an unidentified buyer for a total price $51 million, according to a statement released to the Oslo Stock Exchange yesterday.

The transaction comes as hire rates for such carriers climb to the highest level in almost two years, buoyed by Chinese demand for raw materials and shipping delays in Australia. A panamax carrier earns $39,120 a day, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange, the most since March 29, 2005.

The vessel sale “does not represent a change in strategy” and is “opportunistic,” Golden Ocean said in the statement. The company had net income of $36 million in 2006, down from $41 million in 2005.