Edge Maritime, a company that emerged on the radar early this year, has already assembled five ageing suezmaxes in its managed fleet.
Its latest addition is the 150,000-dwt suezmax Aldus (built 2003), several brokers and other market sources said this week. Managers at low-profile Edge Maritime did not respond to a request for comment.
The price tag for the Japanese-built vessel is not clear. Most sources said the transaction concluded for more than $17m. Some, however, said that the ship fetched just $16m.
Edge Maritime is new to the scene. The company applied for registration in Greece in late January and formally obtained it in March.
By that time, it had already emerged as operator of two suezmaxes that had been sold by Russia's Sovcomflot (SCF Group). The 159,200-dwt SCF Khibiny (built 2002) has since been been renamed Mercury I and the 159,200-dwt SCF Altai (built 2001) is now the Aurora Borealis.
A little later, another suezmax sistership pair joined its fleet. The 159,400-dwt Cape Baxley (built 2003) is now trading as the Ragnar, and the Cape Bellavista (built 2002) has been renamed Cape Bella V. Both ships were previously in the hands of German KG (limited partnership) owners.
The four ships in Edge Maritime's fleet were initially believed to have been bought by Sea Pioneer, another Greek company controlled by Vassilis Bacolitsas. Managers at Sea Pioneer, however, denied their company is involved in ownership or management of the vessels.
The Aldus, which is now becoming Edge Maritime’s fifth vessel, changed hands once more this year.
Until February, it was trading as Finesse in the fleet of Belgian tanker giant Euronav. It was then sold for $21.8m to clients of Greece’s World Carrier Corp, who now apparently flipped the ship at a loss.
There were rumours last month that Russian refiner Slavyansk EKO fixed the Aldus for a six-month storage deal. Vessel tracking sites currently show the ship ballasting off Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia.
Euronav selling spree
Meanwhile, Euronav’s suezmax selling spree continues. Mmarket sources said that the Belgian tanker giant is selling the 159,200-dwt Bastia (built 2005) for about $20.8m.
Euronav owns 50% of the Bastia since November last year, when it acquired the ship for about $20m alongside sistership Bari in a joint venture with Ridgebury and Tufton Oceanic.
Euronav is known to have been looking to sell the two ships since March, when tanker values stood much higher than today.
The Bastia was reportedly bought by Indian buyers, possibly Seven Islands Shipping. A purchase by the Mumbai-based company would go hand in hand with moves to shake out its older tanker tonnage.
Seven Islands is said to have agreed to sell the 75,000-dwt tanker Resolve (built 1999) to Greeks for $7.6m. It bought the vessel as recently as in October 2019 from Greece’s Eletson, at an undisclosed price. Seven Islands has also circulated the 45,700-dwt Loyalty (built 2000) for sale.
Max Lin has contributed to this article
