When it came to transporting LNG, Thenamaris had been relying on ships it had ordered itself and taken delivery of as newbuildings.
Rosy market prospects, high newbuilding prices and a lack of shipyard berths, however, appear to have convinced the major Greek owner to look around for secondhand tonnage as well.
At least one such vessel joined the company’s fleet this summer and more are likely on the way.
The managed fleet list on Thenamaris’ website was modified late in August to include the 155,000-cbm Cool Rider (built 2007).
London-based brokers said the ship, which was previously trading as the British Emerald and Kmarin Emerald, changed hands several weeks ago in a bank-driven transaction at an undisclosed price.
The Hyundai Heavy Industries-built vessel was part of a quartet of LNG Gem-class sisterships originally ordered by BP Shipping and subsequently financed by French lender Societe Generale.
The Cool Rider is probably not the only ship in that group that Thenamaris has snapped up.
According to VesselsValue, the 155,000-cbm British Sapphire (built 2008) was delivered to the Greek company on 25 August under its new name Cool Rover — again at an undisclosed price.
Societe Generale is said to have agreed to offload the third ship as well, the 155,000-cbm Kmarin Diamond (ex-British Diamond, built 2008). It is unknown, however, if Thenamaris or some other owner is behind that deal.
BP had been looking to sell at least some of these vessels as far back as 2018.
However, only one had found a buyer so far — the 155,000-cbm British Ruby (renamed Tristar Ruby, built 2008).
Not as modern
Managers at Thenamaris and BP Shipping declined to comment on the information above, citing standard policy not to discuss commercial matters.
In response to questions from TradeWinds about the transfer of ownership on the LNG carriers, a spokesperson for Societe Generale said the company has no comment to make on this.
Each of the ships in question, which were contracted at around $179m each, is worth nearly $100m now, according to VesselsValue.
Thenamaris’ move to add at least one secondhand LNG vessel to its fleet highlights the unusually busy activity around these ships lately, after the Ukraine war redrew trading patterns and increased Western demand for seaborne natural gas.
Under these conditions, Thenamaris probably did not hesitate to pounce on ships that are older and technologically less advanced than the ones it already had in its fleet.
The Cool Rider, Cool River and Kmarin Diamond are dual-fuel diesel-electric vessels with Mark III membrane-type cargo containment systems and a cargo boil-off rate, or BOR, of 0.15% per day.
The five LNG ships already in Thenamaris’ fleet, by contrast, were built between 2013 and 2021. The first three are tri-fuel diesel-electric vessels and the more modern pair are two-stroke X-DF vessels.
A fleet sale of former BP ships to Greek buyers echoes another deal earlier this summer that saw the oil major sell eight MR tankers to Pantheon Tankers.
