Blue-chip owners and lease financiers led the way in a busy year for tanker transactions which saw more than 400 of the ships change hands.
Ocean Yield, China Merchants Bank, Zodiac Maritime and Delta Tankers each spent $300m or more in the sector in 2018, according to data from VesselsValue.
It calculates over $5.6bn was invested in 410 crude and product tankers during 2018.
While total spending was down from 2017, the number of vessels traded climbed from 352 last year.
The figure does not include the major merger and acquisition activity seen in 2018.
Notable transactions include Euronav closing the takeover of Gener8, Diamond S Shipping revealing plans to take in Capital Product Partners’ tankers and BW Group assuming control of Hafnia.
Kjell Inge Rokke’s Ocean Yield was the top spender on tankers, with $386m invested in six of the ships, data provided by VesselsValue shows.
The lease financier moved into the VLCC market with four Okeanis Eco Tankers newbuildings in February and later inked a leaseback deal for two Ardmore ships.
China Merchants Bank was second among the spenders, with $342m on 12 separate vessels, the data shows.
Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac claimed top spot among conventional shipowners in the tanker market in 2018, VesselsValue says.
A single VLCC and the eye-catching swoop for six modern tankers from the ex-Toisa fleet accounted for the UK-based owner’s $313m tanker investments.
Diamantis Diamantidis, another big buyer of the former Toisa fleet, was just behind in the spending stakes.
His Delta Tankers invested $300m in seven tankers, VesselsValue calculates, during what was a year of major expansion for Diamantidis in both the wet and dry markets.
Aframax tankers were the most liquid asset class in the crude space in 2018, with 48 of the tankers changing hands, according to VesselsValue. This compares with 25 suezmaxes and 37 VLCCs.
In the product space, over 160 MRs were traded, alongside 21 LR2s and 18 LR1s, VesselsValue says.
