Pantheon Tankers is in talks to offload one of its oldest crude carriers as it makes space in its fleet to take delivery of a batch of newbuildings.
Market sources told TradeWinds that a sale may be afoot for the 105,200-dwt aframax Astro Saturn (built 2003) at about $12.5m.
Pantheon managers declined to comment, in line with their company's policy on commercial matters.
The Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering-built ship is known to have been circulating for sale since June. A deal to offload the Astro Saturn would make sense, considering it has not yet undergone dry docking.
Brokers in Athens and London have reported that Pantheon has already agreed to sell an almost identical ship, the 105,100-dwt Astro Sculptor (built 2003), for about $12m.
However, TradeWinds understands this information is incorrect. The Astro Sculptor is currently at dry dock and could therefore expect to fetch more than $13.5m if offered for sale.
Business as usual
Market observers said that a price above $14m would not be surprising as the secondhand market for tankers remains unusually resilient to freight rates, which have been in the doldrums for months.
Buying interest is sustained by anticipation that freight markets will soon improve.
Expectations for such a recovery "appear to be translating into more sale-and-purchase activity, particularly in the crude sector”, Clarksons wrote in its latest weekly report.
"There are signs that [oil] demand will pick up at some point during the year, curbing in turn tonnage lists and boosting freight earnings for owners," Allied Research said in a weekly report on 19 July.
Such sentiment is reflected in several deals that TradeWinds has reported recently.
On 16 July, Onassis company Olympic Shipping and Management agreed to offload its oldest VLCC, the 309,300-dwt Olympic Legend (built 2003), to Far Eastern buyers at a surprisingly firm $31.5m.
Tsakos Shipping & Trading was known to be in talks to offload its oldest aframax, the 114,800-dwt Pericles (built 2003), for about $13m. Brokers now report that a sale has been concluded, likely to Turkish buyers.
Under such conditions, Greek owners see the opportunity to clear out their oldest vessels while holding on to slightly younger ones or adding new ones.
Wide-ranging newbuilding programme
Pantheon Tankers — led by Anna Angelicoussi and her son Frangiskos Kanellakis — is one such example.
In May, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) delivered the 114,000-dwt newbuilding tanker Sea Turtle (built 2021) to the company.
This is just one of 21 tanker newbuildings entering Pantheon's fleet between 2016 and 2022. Pantheon has taken delivery of most these ships, with the exception of four suezmaxes and two aframaxes still under construction at SWS, Samsung Heavy Industries and New Times Shipbuilding.
Pantheon's youngest ships, such as the 300,000-dwt Sea Pearl (built 2017), participate in innovative trades. The Sea Pearl was said in January to have carried the world’s first carbon-neutral crude cargo.
Pantheon's six newbuildings under construction will add to the 31 tankers the company has currently on the water, from MRs to VLCCs.
