Management companies linked to George Gialozoglou have offloaded four ageing tankers in just a few weeks, according to information compiled from various broker reports.
The sales — demolition deals and secondhand transactions for further trading — can be interpreted as normal fleet-renewal moves by the Greek shipowner's companies.
Viewed from a different angle, however, they allow the Greek owner to cut ties with vessels that were drawn into the cross hairs of authorities in the US and Iran.
In late August, brokers reported that clients of Gialozoglou-linked management company Palermo sold the 40,800-dwt product tanker Pandi (built 1996) for scrap in Pakistan at an undisclosed price.
The Pandi was among a group of four affiliated tankers whose Venezuela-bound Iranian gasoline cargo ended up in the hands of US authorities last month.
Initial reports suggested the US forcibly seized the vessels at sea to confiscate their cargo. However, other sources later said that a ship-to-ship transfer took place in a less aggressive manner, after the US threatened to impose sanctions on their owners, insurers and ship masters.
Just days after news of the cargo transfer emerged, Iranian military forces briefly boarded another Gialozoglou-linked ship, the 8,100-dwt Wila (built 1997), in the Middle East Gulf.
Maritime security consultants Dryad Global at the time interpreted Iran’s action as a signal that Tehran would retaliate against owners bowing to US interference.
No news emerged on what the Iranians did on board the Wila, which soon re-appeared in United Arab Emirates-controlled waters after the incident.
The ship is now being reported as sold for scrap in Pakistan, at an undisclosed price.
Clients of Gialozoglou-linked companies IMS, Palermo and Vienna have also sold other ships not directly involved in any such rows.
The 11,300-dwt Ritaj-A (built 1982) has reportedly been scrapped in Pakistan at $350 per ldt, or about $1m.
The only ship believed to have been sold for further trading is the 37,300-dwt product tanker Nala (built 2001), which reportedly fetched $7.1m in a deal with undisclosed owners.
The Nala was trading earlier this year as the Maria Del Carmen VIII in the fleet of Vepamil, an industrial group based in Ecuador. Brokers reported the vessel as sold in January to undisclosed owners at an undisclosed price.
The ship emerged in the Vienna fleet as the Nala in March.
Managers at ISM, Palermo and Vienna did not respond to a request for comment.
