The company is selling the Japanese built 310,000-dwt Yangtze Friendship (built 2008) for $61.8m, which is the current book value, but well below the price paid for the tanker less than four years ago.
The Yangtze Friendship built at Mitsui’s Chiba yard was acquired for $100m as the Grand Sea in 2011.
The buyer is New Enterprise Shipping Co, a Chinese company majority owned by an independent third party in which Sinotrans has a 49% stake.
TradeWinds reported in November that Hong Kong based China VLCC, a company linked to the China Merchants group had bought the 297,000-dwt Yangtze Rhyme (built 2009) with the vessel renamed the New Talent.
The nature of any relationship between New Enterprise and China VLCC is unclear but there appears to be at least a circumstantial link. A company registered as New Enterprise Shipping has an address in the China Merchants Tower in Hong Kong.
Delivery of the vessel to the new owner is scheduled for early February.
The Sinotrans-CSC group has a diversified fleet of some 300 vessels of 11.7m dwt including bulk carriers, containerships, products, chemical and LPG carriers but is not greatly involved in the crude oil trade.
Sinotrans Shipping said it was disposing of the Yangtze Friendship as it did not have expertise in the operation of oil tankers and this business sector was not a principle activity.
The seller of the Yangtze Friendship is Grand Sea Shipping a wholly owned subsidiary of Sinotrans.
