Following 18 lucrative sales of some of its oldest oil tankers since the spring of 2022, major Greek owner Thenamaris could be looking to repeat the trick with LPG carriers.
London brokers are reporting that the Nikolas Martinos-led company has agreed to divest the 38,000-cbm Seaspeed (built 2017) for $55.7m.
This is the second LPG ship that Thenamaris took when it started building a footprint in the LPG carrier arena six years ago.
The surging freight market for such ships has provided the company with the opportunity to sell the Seaspeed on the secondhand market at a price it might not easily fetch in the future.
Unadjusted for inflation, the $55.7m achieved by the vessel exceeds the $53.8m that Thenamaris paid to order the ship in late 2014.
The Seaspeed is one of eight LPG carriers that Thenamaris has in its diversified fleet of about 100 vessels.
Thenamaris’ entire LPG fleet consists of 38,000-cbm ships delivered by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in two batches — the first in 2017 and 2018 and the second in 2021 and 2022.
Managers at Thenamaris, which has a policy to not discuss commercial matters, declined to comment.
Should the company choose to sell additional LPG carriers, one potential candidate could be the Seasurfer, an identical sister ship to Seaspeed (built 2017), along with the Seasuccess and Seashine vessels, both constructed in 2018.
To Turkey with love
After its sale, the Seaspeed is set to become the fourth LPG carrier in the fleet of Mantagas, an affiliate of Turkey’s Manta Shipping.
Managers at the Istanbul-based company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
However, an acquisition of the vessel would fit in the expansionary pattern displayed by the company so far.
Mantagas was set up in 2022, at which time it bought a similar ship from Greek interests — StealthGas’ 38,500-cbm Eco Nebula (built 2007) for $27.75m.
Renamed Manta Salacak, the vessel was recently chartered out to Athens-based Naftomar for one year at $800,000 per month.
The Seaspeed is to join Mantagas’ quartet of midsize, fully refrigerated LPG carriers.
Mantagas is active in the oil trade as well through a fifth ship, the 60,100-dwt panamax tanker Manta Galatasaray (ex-Celsius Richmond, built 2010), which it acquired from Celsius Shipping last year.
Controlled by the descendants of group founder Mecit Cetinkaya, Manta Shipping was largely known for operating handysize bulkers. However, the company was also active in LPG carriers as a shareholder in PascoGas — a joint venture between various Turkish stakeholders including Negmar Denizcilik.
But, by 2022, that cooperation was dissolved and the former partners went their separate ways with divergent business strategies.
While Negmar and Mantagas focus on secondhand LPG ships, PascoGas has been steering a course that includes newbuildings.
