New York-listed International Seaways is being tied to an order for a pair of LR1 product tanker newbuildings in South Korea.
The Manhattan-based company will be paying about $57m per copy at K Shipbuilding, formerly STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, for delivery in the middle or second half of 2025, tanker market sources tell TradeWinds.
Seaways management did not return a request for comment by TradeWinds’ deadline.
However, the Lois Zabrocky-led owner is reporting second-quarter earnings on Wednesday and typically discusses vessel acquisitions and disposals on such occasions.
If the order is confirmed, these would be the first newbuildings ordered by Seaways since it confirmed three dual-fuel LNG-powered VLCCs at Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in March 2021.
Seaways has seven LR1s on its current fleet list, but none is newer than 2011-build.
Two of those units – the 74,900 Seaways Visayas and Seaways Luzon – were built in 2006.
K Shipbuilding is a medium-sized shipyard that specialises in MR tankers. In May, the yard inked two newbuilding contracts with Greek shipowners.
Nicholas Notias-led SteelShips ordered a pair of 50,000-dwt product carriers to be delivered in the first half of 2025. The scrubber-fitted, LNG dual-fuel product tankers were reported to cost about $46.3m each.
Athens-based Chemnav Shipmanagement was the other Greek company.
International Seaways owns and operates a fleet of 75 vessels, including 13 VLCCs, 13 Suezmaxes, five aframaxes/LR2s, seven LR1s and 37 MR tankers.
B Riley Securities analyst Liam Burke is expecting Seaways to report second-quarter earnings of $2.35 per share when it announces on Wednesday.
The owner’s LR1 fleet produced time charter equivalent (TCE) earnings averaging $70,000 in the first quarter of 2023.
At its last earnings report in May, Seaways guided to its LR1s earning $79,200 per day with 33% booked in the second quarter.
”We are expecting results for 2Q23 to reflect strong partial fixtures and fixed time charters to offset a weakening rate environment into the end of the quarter with strengthening of both VLCC and Suezmax rates in 2H23,” Burke told clients in July.
“The favourable supply side of the equation for both VLCC and Suezmax vessels reflects an ageing crude tanker fleet with a steep decline in 2022 newbuilding contracts and a slim order book.”
