A prospective buyer has arrested a VLCC that Singapore's Phoenix Tankers has been trying to sell, claiming that a sale agreement was wrongfully terminated by the seller, which pocketed the deposit.
Gamma One Shipping Company, the Marshall Islands-registered entity that tried to buy the crude tanker earlier this year, filed an application to arrest the 306,500-dwt Phoenix Vanguard (built 2007) in the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad, India, on 28 November.
Gamma's backers were not disclosed in court documents, but the company would appear to be linked to Hermes Marine Management of Greece, which is led by Ghassan Ghandour.
Pen to paper
As TradeWinds reported earlier this year, Hermes signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) to buy the tanker for $38.7m, but the sale fell through because the buyer handed over only a 10% down payment.
When Hermes failed to pay the remaining amount, Phoenix’s parent company MOL pocketed the $3.87m down payment and cancelled the sale agreement, sources told TradeWinds in October.
The MoA, signed between Gamma and Phoenix Tankers on 8 July, stated that the VLCC would be delivered to the buyer by 20 October this year, according to the arrest order from the Gujarat High Court.
Gamma claimed in court papers that Phoenix "wrongfully terminated" the MoA on 16 October and "misappropriated" the down payment, which had been placed in an escrow account until the transaction had been completed.
The plaintiffs also claimed that damages are owed by Phoenix Tankers for "wrongfully" terminating the sale agreement.
Sikka arrest
The court granted an order on 28 November for the arrest of the tanker at Sikka Port in north-west India, where the vessel remains. AIS data shows the vessel is laden.
Phoenix Tankers has been ordered to pay the principal amount of $27.4m plus 6% interest, which will accrue from 28 November until payment is made or the claim is resolved.
Hermes told TradeWinds in November it planned to “forcefully pursue” the matter in London arbitration “and also take necessary action to obtain security for such claims from [the] sellers and/or the ship or any other associated vessel".
“Buyers have substantial claims against the sellers (and the ship) for what buyers believe was a wrongful repudiation/failure to deliver the ship,” the company’s statement said.
In mid-November, the Phoenix Vanguard was said to have been sold to Greek interests, believed to be Eurotankers, for just under $42m, as TradeWinds reported previously.
Other press reports erroneously linked the buyer to Diamantis Diamantides-led Delta Tankers, which told TradeWinds it would never have been interested in buying a vessel of that age.
Neither Hermes nor Phoenix Tankers responded to repeated requests for comment about the arrest.
