Market talk that Embiricos company Aeolos Management has sold a 20-year old VLCC resurfaced this week - at a considerable premium to the price it was initially rumoured sold last month.
First reports about the 281,000-dwt Kalamos (built 2000) changing hands made the rounds at the end of May. The Japanese-built ship was then believed to have fetched between $23m and $24m.
Several market sources TradeWinds talked to at the time, however, dismissed the information as incorrect or said that a deal could not be concluded at these levels.
Market chatter about the Kalamos is now resurfacing, with Clarksons reporting the vessel as finally sold on 12 June at a much higher price of $25m. Banchero Costa is understood to have arranged the deal.
Managers at Embiricos companies Aeolos Management and Andros Maritime did not respond to a request for comment.
Aeolos would certainly have an incentive to sell at these levels. The Kalamos is the oldest ship in its fleet of 10 VLCCs and it is due for special survey in July this year, according to VesselsValue.
Furthermore, a sale would represent a good asset play opportunity: the Embiricos company purchased the Kalamos for just about $20m back in 2013, when the IHI-built ship was trading as Bandaisan in the fleet of Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL).
Aeolos is known to be sell when it finds a good opportunity to do so.
Back in February, it reportedly agreed to sell the 306,000-dwt VLCC Astipalaia (built 2001) to Japanese conversion specialists Modec.
The deal, however, hasn’t been confirmed yet and the Astipalaia is still listed as trading in the Embiricos fleet.
The buyers of the Kalamos, however, are not believed to be Japanese.
They represent the same Chinese interests who also agreed to buy a VLCC pair from Ridgebury Tankers earlier this month – the 306,400-dwt Ridgebury Progress (built 2000) and the 300,000-dwt Ridgebury Purpose (built 2000), according to Clarksons.
As TradeWinds reported, the two Samsung-built ships fetched about $24m each. Their buyer is believed to be a logistics firm, but further information was not available.
Ridgebury’s sale price is believed to have been negatively affected by dry-dock timings.
