Advantage Tankers has reportedly secured long-term employment for a product carrier newbuilding pair it has under construction, nearly two years before they are set to hit the water.
Inked by the Switzerland-based company last year at K Shipbuilding, the scrubber-fitted, 73,400-dwt Advantage Passion is scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2025, followed by its sister ship Advantage Path in the first quarter of 2026.
Both Clarksons and Seasure reported on Friday that Swiss trader Mercuria Energy agreed to fix the two vessels straight out of the yard for the following five years at $28,500 per day.
Managers at Advantage Tankers did not respond to a request for comment.
Expansion strategy
An eventual confirmation of the lucrative deal would vindicate the Tugrul Tokgoz-led’s firm decision to expand into LR1 tankers last year.
Advantage Tankers made its debut in the sector purchasing three such ships on the secondhand market in a $150m deal with Nautical Bulk Holdings in April 2023.
The company then upped the ante in December of the same year, by acquiring two more LR1s in a $65m en-bloc transaction with Glencore subsidiary ST Shipping.
According to VesselsValue, Mercuria already operates two of the company’s five LR1s on the water.
The Swiss trader is said to have fixed the scrubber-fitted, 74,600-dwt Advantage Paradise (built 2010) and Advantage Pioneer (built 2011) for three years starting in February this year at $28,500 per day.
Scrubber-fitted LR1s
The company’s three other LR1s, which are also fitted with scrubbers, are reportedly earning an even higher $29,500 per day on five-year charters with Trafigura that started in May or June 2023: the 75,100-dwt Advantage Padova and Porto Cervo (both built 2019) and the 75,300-dwt Advantage Portofino (built 2018).
These lucrative employment deals may be whetting Advantage Tankers’ appetite to widen its LR1 exposure even further.
A Greek broker reported on Friday that the company has exercised options for two more methanol-ready, 73,400-dwt tanker newbuildings at K Shipbuilding, due for delivery in the second half of 2026.
Managers at Advantage Tankers, however, clarified that this information is inaccurate and that the only LR1 newbuildings the company has at this stage are the Advantage Path and Advantage Passion.
Advantage Tankers also has five suezmax newbuildings under construction at DH Shipbuilding, due for delivery next year.
Its five active LR1s apart, the company’s fleet on the water consists of 19 VLCCs, suezmaxes and aframaxes. One of its suezmaxes was hijacked by Iran last year and remains in that country’s waters.
