Geneva-based Advantage Tankers is the buyer of a VLCC sold at the end of last month for a very firm price above its original newbuilding cost.
Chief executive Tugrul Tokgoz confirmed to TradeWinds that Advantage has acquired the 300,000-dwt Eco Seas (built 2016).
Brokers had reported the vessel changing hands from Norway’s TRF Ship Management for $98.5m.
This was just over the $97m price that South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering charged to build it, according to VesselsValue.
This is Advantage’s seventh VLCC in a mixed tanker fleet of 29 ships.
The ownership of the tanker had changed in late 2022, from a 50/50 share with Awilco to 100% TRF.
The purported $98.5m share price was a slight premium to VesselsValue’s $97.1m valuation.
In October, Oslo-based TRF was reportedly responsible for entering the Eco Seas into the Tankers International pool.
The sale is another indication of a tanker sale-and-purchase market that continues running hot, with newbuilding prices for VLCCs hitting highs not seen in more than 15 years.
TRF also sold the 297,700-dwt TRF Horten (built 2018) earlier in February for $102m, reportedly to Tsakos Energy Navigation.
LR1s added
The sale came at a slight discount to valuations but was likely impacted by its construction at the now-defunct Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Philippines facility in Subic Bay, as ships from that yard typically carry a discount.
At the end of last year, Advantage also snapped up two LR1 ships in a $65m deal.
The tankers were acquired from Glencore subsidiary ST Shipping.
Last week, Iranian authorities moved formally to confiscate a US-owned cargo of crude on an Advantage-operated suezmax they hijacked nearly a year ago and have been detaining since.
The ruling, related to the 159,100-dwt Advantage Sweet (built 2012), was issued by the Tehran court on international relations, local media said.
The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker was intercepted on 27 April 2023 by Iranian forces in the Gulf of Oman.
It was carrying Kuwaiti crude for Chevron to Houston, Texas.
