Sun Enterprises is said to be in talks for time charter employment for a pair of aframax tanker newbuildings that it booked at Daehan Shipbuilding.
Industry sources said Chevron is close to taking the 115,000-dwt scrubber-fitted crude carriers. No details were given on the charter contract, but a shipping source said the negotiations involve a five-year fixed term plus options to extend.
Sun Enterprises managing director George Fragos denied talk by some sources that the ships have been employed.
TradeWinds reported in July that George S Livanos-led Sun Enterprises had booked the newbuildings at Daehan. At the time, the Greek company was said to have paid more than $50m each for the vessels, which the South Korean yard is scheduled to deliver in June and July 2021.
“We think the newbuildings are costing Sun Enterprises between $57m and $58m each, as the ships it has ordered are of high specifications,” said a shipbuilding expert, who added that standard scrubber-fitted aframax newbuildings cost around $52m.
The order marked Sun Enterprises’ return to the aframax sector after an absence of more than a decade.
According to VesselsValue, Sun Enterprises sold its last aframax — the 91,700-dwt single-hull Meandros (built 1988) — 11 years ago to Shanghai Zhenhua Shipping for $17m.
Heavylift conversion
The Chinese company later converted the Sumitomo Heavy Industries-built tanker into a heavylift vessel and renamed it Zhen Hua 28.
Meanwhile, Sun Enterprises has added a newbuilding to its MR order at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, bringing its total there to three. It ordered two ships at the South Korean yard in April.
The company was said to be paying $37.5m each for the 50,000-dwt product tankers. It is scheduled to take delivery in August, September 2020 and January 2021.
In addition, it has a VLCC under construction at Japan Marine United that is due for delivery in March next year.
Sun Enterprises, which was set up in 1968 but has a history going back to 1902, notes on its website that it was the first company to place VLCC orders with HHI, in the 1970s.
