Bunker tanker operators in the world’s busiest marine fuels market have snapped up at least three of the six Brightoil Petroleum tankers that went under the hammer in Singapore last month.
Equatorial Marine Fuel and Global Energy International, both of whom are among Singapore’s larger bunker tanker operators, were the successful bidders of three 4,100-dwt sisterships that were sold via sealed tender in mid September.
The three bunker vessels were handed over to their new owners this week, according to officials at the Sheriff of Singapore’s office.
Equatorial Marine paid SGD 6.15m ($4.45m) for the Brightoil 319 (built 2014) and SGD 5.95m for the Brightoil 326 (built 2016).
Global Energy got the Brightoil 329 (built 2017) after submitting a winning bid of SGD 6.18m.
The 7,000-dwt vessels Brightoil 639 and Brightoil 666 (both built 2013), and the older Brightoil 688 (built 2008), have also received acceptable bids.
Final disclosure
The larger trio was auctioned on 20 September, although details about to whom they have been sold, and for how much, will only be released once final payments have been received and the vessels have been officially handed over to their new owners.
Sources within the Singapore bunker tanker industry said that all of the tankers attracted strong buying interest from local operators ahead that were eager to upgrade or upsize their fleets ahead of an expected increase in demand when the IMO 2020 sulphur cap kicks in on 1 January.
Interest was also buoyed by lower supply due to vessels heading to yards for tank cleaning in preparation for the new rules.
Brightoil’s ships are described as being attractive purchase candidates as they are modern, in very good condition, and built to higher specifications than the average Chinese-built bunker tanker.
Elsewhere in Asia, three of Brightoil’s aframax tankers and a VLCC were due to be auctioned in Hong Kong this week for the second time.
Sealed tenders for the 115,600-dwt Brightoil League, 115,000-dwt Brightoil Lucky and 107,500-dwt Brightoil Legend (all built 2009) were due at the High Court of Hong Kong on Tuesday, while prospective buyers of the 319,700-dwt Brightoil Galaxy (built 2012) had until Wednesday to submit their offers.
Attempts to auction the four tankers in September were unsuccessful when none of the bids received were deemed high enough to meet the minimum reserve prices set by the court.
Brightoil’s last tanker, the 320,000-dwt VLCC Brightoil Gem (built 2013), will be sold on 19 November on Chinese online platform Taobao.
