Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Maritime has quickly built a strong position in the LR2 sector with one notable transaction escaping industry attention.
Zodiac captured headlines when it swooped for six former Toisa ships last September, a set which included two LR2 newbuildings.
Now it has emerged Zodiac concluded a second purchase below the radar just before the curtain fell on 2018 - a year in which it was one of the largest buyers of tanker tonnage globally.
December saw a host of speculation around Gulf Energy Maritime’s114,000-dwt Gulf Vision (built 2012) and Gulf Valour (built 2013) in a sale handled by Clarksons Platou.
Greek shipowner Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis was previously thought to have been favourite to buy the ships, which were also linked to Greek peers Metrostar and Aegean Shipping Management.
However, both of the vessels have now been delivered to Zodiac and have begun trading under the names Soho Square and Sloane Square.
While it is not clear how much Zodiac paid for the pair, it is thought to be at a similar level to what it collected for a brace of LR1s sold to Pakistan National Shipping Corp in early 2019.
The arrival of the former GEM tankers in the Zodiac fleet has coincided with the delivery of the first of the Toisa LR2s, which has been named Hanover Square.
With the 105,000-dwt Portman Square (built 2002) also in the Zodiac fleet the company will have a five-ship presence in the LR2 niche.
This places Zodiac comfortably inside the 20 largest companies active in the sector ahead of Bakri but behind Centrofin, which has six ships, Clarksons' data shows.
Figures from the shipbroking giant show only eight shipowners have more than 10 LR2s in their fleet, with Scorpio Tankers the largest with 34 vessels in the niche.
In all Zodiac bought nine tankers in an active 2018, as well as secondhand dry cargo and gas acquisitions.
It has since sold the LR pair 75,000-dwt Kings Road (built 2012) and the Abbey Road (built 2013) to PNSC at an eye-catching price of $60.7m, as TradeWinds reported last week.
Zodiac has a fleet of more than 160 ships across the container, tanker, dry cargo, vehicle carrier and gas sectors.
| Rank | Owner Group | Fleet No | OB No | Total Number |
| 1 | Scorpio Group | 34 | 0 | 34 |
| 2 | A.P. Moller Holding | 12 | 10 | 22 |
| 3 | Fredriksen Group | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| 4 | China COSCO Shipping | 11 | 2 | 13 |
| 5 | Ocean Tankers | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 6 | TORM A/S | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 7 | SCF Group | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| 8 | K. G. Jebsen (KGJS) | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 9 | Cardiff Marine | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 10 | Teekay Corporation | 9 | 0 | 9 |
