Greek owner Thenamaris, a respected asset player, has pocketed a tidy profit on the sale of an LPG carrier, sources say.
Market sources tell TradeWinds that the Nikolas Martinos-led company has agreed to sell the 38,100-cbm Seasuccess (built 2018) to Turkey’s Aygaz for $59m.
This is about $10m above what Thenamaris paid to order the vessel as a newbuilding at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard nine years ago.
It is the second time in under a year the shipowner has banked cash from the sale of one of its LPG ships.
In November 2023, it sold the 38,100-cbm sister ship Seaspeed (renamed Manta Anadolu, built 2017) to another Turkish company, Manta Denizcilik.
With a newbuilding order price of about $53m and a sale price of about $55.7m, the profit Martinos gained in the Seaspeed deal was probably below the one he is generating now with the Seasuccess.
In the case of both vessels, Thenamaris has earned charter income from the ships for more than six years before flipping them at a premium.
Thenamaris declined to comment on the Seasuccess deal, citing a standard policy to not discuss commercial matters.
Aygaz’s shipping affiliate, Anadoluhisari Tankercilik, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Seaspeed and Seasuccess were among the first newbuildings that Thenamaris contracted in 2014 and 2015 after entering the LPG sector.
The sale of the two ships leaves it with a fleet of seven 38,000-cbm LPG ships, built between 2017 and 2022.
The purchase of the Seasuccess represents a considerable expansion step for low-profile Aygaz, which has been absent from the sale-and-purchase scene since at least 2017.
The Aygaz fleet has been steady since at three small, fully pressurised LPG carriers with a capacity between 6,800 cbm and 11,000 cbm and built between 2001 and 2009.
Aygaz says on its website that it was the first Turkish company to enter the maritime LPG trade in the 1960s.
Aygaz set up a ship operations department in 1967, which it transferred in 2010 to Anadoluhisari Tankercilik — a fully owned subsidiary that manages and operates LPG ships flying the Turkish flag.
Aygaz is not the only company to have discovered an interest in midsize gas carriers lately, amid a robust earnings performance for such vessels.
TradeWinds reported earlier this month how Sea Hawk Maritime, a Greek newcomer to the sector, bought two such ships without identifying them.
London-based brokers revealed late last week that the pair that Sea Hawk bought was the 35,600-cbm Surville (built 2014) and Verrazane (built 2013), which reportedly changed hands for nearly $100m in total.
