Oslo-listed ADS Crude Carriers must now decide on its future direction after selling all three of its ships.
The company announced on Thursday that it had offloaded the 299,000-dwt VLCC ADS Page (built 2002) for $25.5m.
That is the same price it secured when it sold the two sisterships — the ADS Stratus and ADS Serenade — in September and earlier this month.
The final tanker will be delivered to an unnamed new owner in November.
ADS Crude said only that it is due to publish its third-quarter earnings report on 18 November, at which time it will provide an update on the sales and the use of the proceeds.
Chief executive Terje Bodin Larsen told TradeWinds that the company is unable to comment on future plans before a board meeting on the day of the results announcement.
Discussion needed
He said ADS Crude is happy with the sales and the price achieved.
"This is a decision by the board in the best interests of the shareholders," he said. "It goes without saying that this means a discussion on the direction of the company."
Industry watchers have described the prices achieved for the trio as holding up well against a background of declining asset values for VLCCs in general.
The ships were retrofitted with scrubbers by ADS Crude after they were acquired from John Fredriksen's SFL Corp for a combined $67.5m in 2018, when the company was spun-off from parent Arendal Dampskibsselskap (ADS).
Profitable vessels
The shipowner has now recouped $76.5m from the sales. ADS Crude had also made back 68% of its $12m retrofit investment by 30 June.
VesselsValue assesses the ADS Page as being worth $24.37m.
After the first sale to Marshal Shipping, ADS Crude chairman Bjorn Tore Larsen told TradeWinds that the shipowner's plan A was to keep running the ships, but he added that the company was happy to sell if the price was right.
Fearnley Securities has previously calculated a net value asset value for the company of NOK 25 ($2.71) per share if it sold the final VLCC at the same price level.
The investment bank upgraded this to NOK 25.50 on Thursday morning.
Share price rising
The stock closed up 2% at NOK 18.25 in Oslo on Wednesday. The price was NOK 16.70 when it sold the second VLCC.
"The big question remains what ADS intends to do with the proceeds, either cash it out to shareholders or venture into new investments," Fearnley said. "We believe the former is the more likely scenario."
Earlier in October, parent ADS pledged to stick with shipowning as the company looked to sell one of its last wholly-owned vessels.
Larsen, ADS' controlling shareholder, denied market rumours that the company was focusing only on VLCC owning spin-off ADS Crude.
The talk emerged amid reports that ADS was looking to sell its privately-owned, 76,000-dwt bulker ADS Arendal (built 2004). The Sasebo Heavy Industries-built vessel was on its way to China, where it will be available for inspection by prospective buyers.
A sale would leave ADS with just one wholly owned vessel: the 73,400-dwt bulker ADS Galtesund (built 2007).
