Thenamaris has unveiled a significant expansion of its VLCC tonnage with a pair of newbuildings that had previously not been connected to the major Greek shipowner.

The Martinos family company recently added the 313,000-dwt Seaduke (built 2021) and 309,800-dwt Seaduchess (built 2022) to the newbuilding section of its website.

Imabari newbuilds

The vessels are under construction at Imabari Shipbuilding’s Saijo yard, according to IHS Markit, which lists the Seaduke as having been launched. The Seaduchess is due for delivery in January.

The disclosure comes as shipbuilders bumped up their VLCC newbuilding prices by about 15% past the $100m-per-ship mark, on the back of soaring steel plate costs and limited berth availability.

How Thenamaris' newbuildings exactly fit into that trend remains unclear. The company's website does not clarify when the pair joined its fleet or on what terms Thenamaris manages them.

Some brokers believe the Seaduke and Seaduchess were bought as resales in deals concluded a while ago.

However, other market sources told TradeWinds that Imabari offered the pair to Thenamaris as part of an attractive sale-and-leaseback deal.

The newbuildings will see Nikolas Martinos-led Thenamaris expand its VLCC fleet from eight to 10 vessels. Photo: Andy Pierce

Imabari has struck similar agreements with Navios Maritime Acquisition, another Greek shipowner.

The US-listed outfit, which is led by Angeliki Frangou, has the 313,400-dwt sisterships Baghdad (built 2020) and Erbil (built 2021) on long-term bareboat charters, which expire in 2030 and 2031, respectively. The deals, agreed in the autumn of 2018, set out a net daily charter rate of $27,816.

Debt-laden Navios Acquisition has another pair of VLCC newbuildings under construction at the same yard, which it will employ on bareboat charters as well. They are the 310,000-dwt Nave Electron (built 2021) and a sistership, which has to be named yet and is slated for delivery one year later.

Six VLCCs are under construction at Imabari Saijo, according to Clarksons, which lists five of them under unknown ownership.

Thenamaris declined to elaborate on its pair of newbuildings. Regardless of how the company came by them, they represent a considerable expansion of its managed VLCC fleet from eight to 10 vessels.

This number may even rise to 11 if information from last month is eventually confirmed that Thenamaris is also the buyer of the 297,300-dwt VLCC New Creation (built 2009).

The New Creation currently belongs to China Merchants Energy Shipping. The major VLCC shipowner has admitted it is planning to dispose of some of its older vessels, of which the New Creation is one, but has stopped short of actually confirming a sale of the ship.

Thenamaris is known to be renewing its considerable fleet. The company recently inked two MR tankers at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, lifting its newbuilding tally of such vessels at the South Korean yard to four.

Thenamaris has a mixed fleet of about 100 ships on the water and under construction. Most of them are tankers, followed by bulkers, gas carriers and containerships. The company is led by Dinos Martinos.