Gulf Energy Maritime (GEM), a shipowner held by state energy companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman, is believed to have raised close to $120m from the sale of its entire LR1 fleet.
Shipping market sources, brokers and online reference platforms relate that the Dubai-based company has offloaded five such vessels since May, in separate deals with counterparts in Turkey, India and the Middle East.
GEM managers didn’t respond to a request for comment but some of the vessels have already changed hands.
Beks Ship Management and Trading, a serial ship buyer from Turkey, has taken delivery of GEM’s 75,000-dwt Gulf Pearl (built 2005), a vessel built at Hyundai Heavy Industry that will henceforth trade as Beks Bebek.
Istanbul-based Beks is believed to have spent about $20.4m on the ship, which becomes its 23rd tanker.
Some brokers had identified Beks as the buyer of two sisterships of the Gulf Pearl as well — the Gulf Coast and Gulf Horizon.
That information, however, isn’t accurate and it is other buyers who have stepped in for these two vessels.
Data platform S&P Global Market Intelligence shows management of the Gulf Horizon has switched earlier this month to India’s Rhine Marine Services.
Mumbai-based Rhine Marine has been around since 2020 and it is currently managing tankers that previously belonged to Union Maritime, Greece’s IMS and Taiwan’s Super Fleet Holdings.
As for the Gulf Coast, the last in the trio of GEM's 2005-built LR1 tankers, brokers report it as sold to undisclosed buyers — again for $20.4m.
Shareholders push for payouts
GEM’s two younger LR1s, by contrast — both built at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) — have fetched much higher prices.
Dubai-based Chessworth DMCC is said to have spent $29.5m on the 75,000-dwt Gulf Crystal (built 2009).
According to S&P Global, the ship has already joined the Chessworth fleet as Shahrazad.
Established in 2018, Chessworth describes itself on its website as an “independent commodities trading house” whose shareholders have also “vested interests in the renewables sector with over 60 megawatt” in the Iberian peninsula.
Chessworth started expanding into shipping last year, when it took control of the 115,900-dwt tanker Sinbad (built 2009). This is the former Elandra Angel, which commodity giant Vitol was reported selling for $33m as part of a fleet rejigging.
HMD-built sistership Gulf Coral is reported sold to undisclosed buyers for $28.5m.
A sale of all of GEM's five LR1 tankers would leave the company with a fleet of six MRs.
GEM has been rumoured for some time to have been under shareholder pressure to benefit from sky-high tanker values and sell at least part of its fleet.
GEM’s single biggest co-owner has been Dubai’s state-owned Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC).
Two smaller shareholders are controlled by other Gulf states: Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and the Oman Oil Company (OOC).
According to the GEM website, French electronics and systems group Thales owns a piece of the company as well.
GEM's latest sales are just part of a long-term process that saw the company gradually reduce its exposure to the tanker market.
In previous sale spurts, GEM divested three MR1s in January 2022 and three LR1s in late 2019.
