NGM Energy has sold another VLCC to Middle Eastern interests.
The Moundreas family-controlled company’s 299,000-dwt tanker Victory I (built 2001) has turned up in the fleet of Dubai-based Royal Express Ship Management, which is operating the vessel on behalf of Sunrise Maritime, a single-ship entity that is registered in Belize.
Tanker brokers said the ship, which has been renamed Dante, was sold for $26.5m.
The Victory I is the second VLCC that NGM has sold to a company connected to Royal Express.
In May, NGM offloaded the 299,100-dwt Vida (built 2003) to another Belize-registered company called Felix Maritime. Handed over in June, the ship was also placed under the management of Royal Express and currently trades as the Dalton.
Exactly who is behind Royal Express and Sunrise Maritime remains unclear. Neither company has been in shipping for very long, and they are not known to have owned or operated ships before, according to Middle East sources.
Like many small shipmanagers operating in Dubai, it has a generic website full of stock photos and text extolling its skills as a shipmanager, while providing no concrete details about its executive management or the ships it manages.
TradeWinds was unable to reach Royal Express on the telephone number listed on its website.
The Vida and Victory I sales mean NGM has two VLCCs left in its fleet. Late last year, the company sold another two of the type to alleged sanctions-busting Kun Lun Shipping of China.
NGM’s more recent buying focus has been on suezmax tankers and capesize bulkers.
Sources close to the company previously told TradeWinds that the VLCC sales have been profitable asset plays.
