Greece’s Athenian Sea Carriers has sold its oldest VLCC in a secondhand market that appears surprisingly robust, considering the lacklustre freight rates that tankers are earning.
Jens Martin Jensen, chief executive of parent company Athenian Holdings, confirmed the sale of the 317,400-dwt Athenian Victory (built 2009).
Jensen did not offer further details on the deal but, according to Greek brokers and ship-management sources, the Hyundai Heavy Industries-built vessel fetched about $42m in a sale to Greek peer Eurotankers.
Managers at Gotsis family-controlled Eurotankers did not respond to a request for comment.
The last known deal for a secondhand VLCC took place last month and concerned the 298,000-dwt Hudson (built 2017).
The sale of the Athenian Victory now shows that busy sale-and-purchase activity for smaller kinds of tankers, mainly aframaxes, is spilling over into VLCCs as well.
"It makes sense for shipowners to look into buying secondhand crude ships, purely out of speculation, as a tanker recovery is well overdue," Athens-based brokerage Intermodal said in a report earlier this month.
According to Intermodal estimates, 10-year-old aframax values have increased by 27% so far this year. Baltic Exchange data confirms that trend. The Baltic's S&P index for tankers rose by 7.8% since January to its highest level in nine months.
Such conditions create opportunities for companies wishing to renew their fleets.
The Athenian Victory was the oldest ship in Athenian Sea Carriers’ fleet of six VLCCs. The Kyriakou family-controlled company is preparing to take delivery of a pair of 299,600-dwt newbuildings from Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries next year.
Eurotankers' potential purchase of the Athenian Victory can also be seen as fleet renewal.
The shipowner sold its oldest VLCC — the 303,900-dwt Eurodestiny (built 2003) — in a demolition deal in January. This was the first VLCC to join the fleet of Eurotankers, a company that was established in 1990 but did not enter the VLCC arena before 2016.
The outfit has been a busy player on the secondhand market. Since tanker freight markets plummeted in mid-2020, the company had been active as a seller only.
If Eurotankers is confirmed as the Athenian Victory's buyer, the deal would mark its first acquisition in a year.
The Gotsis family buys all of its tankers on the S&P market and does not order newbuildings.
Eurotankers currently lists 10 tankers and three bulkers on its website. This includes the 151,700-dwt suezmax Eurofaith (built 2004), which the company was reported to have sold in May for about $18m to a buyer based in the United Arab Emirates.
