Denmark's Christiania Shipping is hunting fresh tonnage after selling an elderly pair of clean tankers.
Brokers said the Axel Eitzen-controlled company has disposed of the 4,300-dwt Else Marie Theresa (built 2001) and 4,500-dwt Maria Theresa (built 2002) for $2m each.
Special surveys are due on both ships.
The Else Marie Theresa has been renamed Enki, and its sister vessel is now called Sana.
Eitzen told TradeWinds: "I can confirm we have sold the two elderly ladies to two different buyers in the United Arab Emirates."
"The sales are absolutely age-related, as they were performing well until the end with us," he added.
VesselsValue assesses the duo as worth towards $5.5m combined.
New additions sought
Eitzen said: "We are definitely in the process of fleet renewal, and constantly looking into possibilities for acquiring new tonnage."
In May, the shipowner sold two chemical tankers to Norwegian asset manager Ness, Risan & Partners (NRP) in a sale-and-leaseback deal.
NRP bought the IMO type 2 ships and chartered them back to the Danish operator on a bareboat basis.
Eitzen named the vessels as the 3,500-dwt Susanne Theresa (built 2006) and 3,400-dwt Sofie Theresa (built 2004).
In February, TradeWinds reported that the Eitzen Group company was expanding its fleet further by taking a Japanese-owned, six-year-old stainless-steel carrier on long-term bareboat charter.
The Usuki Shipyard-built, 12,600-dwt Sun Gaia (built 2015) was renamed Sigaia Theresa.
The tanker is on bareboat charter from Skokuyu Tanker of Japan in a deal brokered by Maersk Broker.
The expansion came in the wake of a refinancing of Christiania in December 2020, and an overall restructuring of Eitzen Group, where Eitzen is chief executive.
The refinancing with Dutch shipping bank NIBC allowed Eitzen to buy out Erik Bartnes and Nicolai Heidenreich, the two partners with whom he had bought the former Herning Shipping in 2018.
It left him with a 70% stake in Christiania, alongside institutional investors.
