Thailand’s Nathalin Group has returned to the newbuilding arena with an order for a small product tanker in China.
At the same time, an old storage VLCC that many thought had been scrapped in January has also turned up under its ownership.
The tanker owner and operator has ordered a 3,000-dwt product tanker at Zhejiang Shenzhou Shipbuilding for delivery in April.
China focus
Nathalin is no stranger to the yard, which has just completed a quartet of similar sized product tankers for its Bangkok-based subsidiary Prima Marine.
Prima is responsible for Nathalin’s fleet of 32 tankers that range from small product tankers that distribute refined products around Thailand, to aframax tankers and VLCCs that carry crude into Thailand or are used in storage roles.
Two other aframax tankers are operated by Khunnathee Co, a separate subsidiary.
While the most recent of Nathalin’s small tankers have been newbuildings, the company continues to scour the secondhand market for larger vessels.
Sale and purchase
Earlier this month, it was widely reported by brokers to have acquired Navios Maritime Acquisition Corp’s 305,000-dwt Nave Electron (built 2002) for $25.4m.
However, the buyer later emerged as Elandra Tankers, a Singapore-based joint venture between Vitol and a subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank.
TradeWinds understands from Singapore-based tanker sources that the ship will be used to store Vitol's IMO 2020-compliant fuels.
What Nathalin did in fact buy was Southernpec’s 299,000-dwt storage VLCC Marine Star (built 1994), which was reported in January as having been sold for demolition in Bangladesh.
While most in the tanker trades had given the ship up for dead, it was recently handed over to Nathalin and reflagged in Thailand under the name Darin Star.
Ship tracking websites this week indicated that the ship is very much alive, stationed off the coast of Malaysia.
