UK owner and operator Navig8 Group has continued its steady fleet expansion through fresh pool deals with Greek companies.
Marinakis-backed Capital Ship Management, the Latsis group and IMS are the latest owners to hand over a total of three vessels.
Navig8 now has 12 aframaxes in its V8 pool.
One of the additions is Capital Ship Management's 113,000-dwt Aristaios (built 2017).
Clarksons lists it as one of the vessels involved in the 2019 merger between another Marinakis company, Capital Maritime & Trading, and US owner Diamond S Shipping.
TradeWinds reported on 6 April that Diamond S had agreed to pay shareholder Capital Maritime up to $34m amid Diamond S' takeover by International Seaways.
The company is making the payment to prematurely terminate management agreements for up to 25 tankers going to International Seaways in the proposed all-stock acquisition.
Deal torn up
Diamond S had agreed to five-year commercial and technical management contracts with Capital Ship Management for the 25 vessels the Greek owner brought into the deal.
Navig8 already operates Capital Ship Management's 113,000-dwt Aristoklis (built 2017) in the V8 pool.
Meanwhile, Greece's IMS has handed over its 106,000-dwt Nemo (built 2008) to Navig8.
IMS has seven tankers comprising one other aframax, the sistership Ark and five handysizes and MRs.
This appears to be the first time it has placed a ship with Navig8.
And Greece's Latsis group has handed over the 105,000-dwt Fos Hamilton (built 2013) to the V8 pool.
Navig8 already operates Latsis' 50,000-dwt MR Hellas Nemesis (built 2016).
Suezmax expansion
Navig8 has also been busy adding suezmaxes in recent months, mainly forging new ties to more Greek owners.
The company said Avin International's 152,000-dwt Kriti Breeze (built 2003) joined in November.
Greek owners Transmed Shipping and AllSeas Marine added two vessels in October.
These agreements followed a first pools agreement earlier that month with Spanish shipowner Ibaizabal Tankers.
In June 2020, Navig8 confirmed it was taking over seven vessels controlled by Trafigura through a combination of pool membership and time charters. The ships were a VLCC, three suezmaxes, an aframax and two LR2s.
This deal was Navig8's biggest addition since the capture of eight Ridgebury Tankers suezmaxes in 2019.
