Tanker markets have apparently revived sufficiently to make asset plays possible for players who bought vessels at the bottom of the market.

Greece’s Aeolos Management, a company led by the Embiricos family, is believed to be making more than $10m in profit on the sale of a 17-year-old VLCC.

Brokers in Athens and the US report that the 299,900-dwt crude tanker Amorgos (built 2004) fetched $35.5m in a deal concluded late last month with unidentified Chinese buyers.

Aeolos managers did not respond to a request for comment. A deal, however, would make sense, considering that the company acquired the ship barely three years ago at a much lower price of about $23.8m, when it was trading as Kai-Ei with Japan’s Kyoei Tanker.

Aeolos and another two Embiricos companies, Andros Maritime Agencies and International Maritime Enterprises, are known for shrewd asset playing skills.

Earlier this year, they sold the 6,881-teu Rhodos (built 2013) for $140m to CMA CGM, which could be a record price for a container ship on the secondhand market.

The ship has been trading with French liner giant CMA CGM since as Voltaire.

The Amorgos is not the only VLCC believed to be changing hands.

Several brokers in London, Athens and the US report the 300,500-dwt Nissho Maru (built 2004) as sold to unidentified Greek buyers for $31.5m.

Both VLCCs were built at IHI Marine United in Japan and are scheduled to pass a special survey in 2024. The key difference between them is that the Amorgos is equipped with a scrubber, while the Nissho Maru is not.

TradeWinds reported early last month that Idemitsu Tankers was putting the Nissho Maru on the sales block as a falling yen made ship divestments attractive for Japanese owners.

Another factor boosting secondhand tanker values has been their soaring demolition values, amid rising steel prices and a dearth of scrapping candidates.

VesselsValue estimates the demolition price of the VLCCs at about $29.4m, up from just about $12m each two years ago.

Busy dealmaking

Deal talk on Japanese-owned tanker tonnage is spilling over to smaller crude carriers as well.

Several brokers report that Greece’s Delta Tankers is spending about $37.3m on the 159,900-dwt suezmax Stena Supreme (built 2012). According to Clarksons, the ship has a special survey and the installation of a scrubber due later this year.

The Stena Supreme is owned by Doun Kisen and operated by Concordia Maritime under a long-term bareboat charter that runs through to 2028, with annual purchase options.

Market sources, however, tell TradeWinds that the deal is not finalised and is still on subjects.

If a deal materialises, it would be the second suezmax built in South Korea that Delta is buying since March, when the Diamantis Diamantides-led company picked up the 158,300-dwt Densa Orca (built 2012) in what was its first purchase of a secondhand tanker in nearly three years.

Moving on to the next smallest tanker size, unidentified Greeks are said to be acquiring the 113,800-dwt aframax Wafrah (built 2007) for $17.5m. Sold by Kuwait Oil Tanker Co, the Wafrah is listed as an LR2 but trades dirty oil products.