Yangzijiang Shipbuilding is yet again trying to sell a suezmax tanker that has been under construction for more than seven years.

UK-based brokers are reporting the 156,900-dwt Hull No 1161 (built 2020) has gone in a resale deal worth $52.5m. Other brokers based in the US say the ship, which is to be fitted with scrubbers, has been committed at a far higher price of $56.9m.

Both sources are identifying Germany’s Hammonia Reederei as the vessel’s buyers. Hammonia executives did not respond to a request for comment.

However, a German source familiar with the matter said that the vessel had been bought by investment clients of Hammonia for a price “in the high $50’s” with delivery in April.

Market observers contacted by TradeWinds, however, expressed surprise at the information. Hammonia Reederei has been so far known as a technical manager for bulkers and boxships and has currently not a single tanker in its fleet.

If Hammonia is indeed involved in any deal for Hull No 1161, it would probably be on behalf of Oslo investment house Ness, Risan and Partners (NRP), which acquired Hammonia last year from German players Ernst Russ and Peter Dohle.

Some other shipping sources have linked Dr Peters, another German company, to the deal. TradeWinds, however, has not been able to confirm that information. Dr Peters and its technical management outfit DS Tankers have been known to be selling ships lately rather than buying them.

This is not the first time that Yangzijiang is trying to sell Hull No 1161. Two years ago, Greece’s Delta Tankers agreed to buy the vessel at a bargain price of about $49.5m. Several shipping databases are still listing the ship as Delta Avra, the name it was supposed to trade under after entering the company’s fleet later this year.

TradeWinds, however, understands that Yangzijiang’s deal with Delta’s owner Diamantis Diamantides has failed and that it is currently in arbitration. Depending on the arbitration’s outcome, the final word on the ship’s sale may not have been spoken yet.

The chequered history of hull No 1161 doesn’t stop there. The ship was initially ordered by John Fredriksen’s Frontline in 2012 at China’s Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries.

The vessel, which was then supposed to be named Front Ran, was half-built when Rongsheng stopped its construction after suffering financial problems that led to the yard’s demise.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding took over the ship at the end of 2017 for about $10m. The move marked the Chinese builder’s entry to the crude tanker space. It also formed part of Yangzijiang’s efforts to diversify away from pure shipbuilding and to create extra revenue from asset plays and trading ships.

Yangzijiang executive chairman Ren Yuanlin told TradeWinds at about the time that it was looking for a buyer for the vessel. If it did not find one, he said, the company would trade the ship itself.

Ian Lewis contributed to this article