Advantage Tankers has sold its oldest VLCC in an increasingly lively sale-and-purchase market for such vessels.
Managers confirmed to TradeWinds that they had agreed to sell the 296,500-dwt Advantage Virtue (built 2009).
Advantage Tankers, controlled by Nazli Karamehmet Williams and led by Togrul Tokgoz, did not disclose the price or the buyer of the Chinese-built vessel.
Greek brokers have reported the ship went to Chinese interests for $51m.
Built at Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, the Advantage Virtue, which is not equipped with a scrubber, passed a special survey early this year.
It was the first VLCC Advantage Tankers bought when entering the segment in 2019.
The Switzerland-based company spent between $41m and $42m on the vessel.
That is about $51m in today’s money, which is exactly what Advantage Tankers reportedly obtained from its sale.
The cash will come in handy for the company, which is waiting on the delivery of five suezmax and two LR1 product tankers under construction in South Korea and Japan due for delivery in 2025 and 2026.
Its newbuildings will complement an existing fleet of 24 VLCCs, suezmaxes, aframaxes and LR1 product tankers on the water, which includes four very modern, dual-fuel VLCCs built in 2022 and 2023.
Is this a trend?
Brokers’ reports that the buyers of the Advantage Virtue are Chinese could point to China Merchants Group.
The major shipping group is a fan of Bohai-built VLCC tonnage, having four of the Advantage Virtue’s sister ships in its fleet.
China Merchants, however, is not known to have bought such ships in the secondhand market lately.
Another name in the frame is United Arab Emirates-based Harry Victor Ship Management & Operation.
The little-known entity, which appears to have been established four years ago, emerged in March as the buyer of the 296,100-dwt Pandora (built 2009).
This is another of the Advantage Virtue’s sister ships, which was reported sold in January and is trading in the Harry Victor fleet as the Goodwin.
The Advantage Virtue is reportedly fetching $51m but the price the Pandora achieved remains a secret.
However, in general terms, VLCC values have been holding steady in recent months, although they are below the giddy levels they hit last year.
Average secondhand prices for 15-year-old VLCCs have been stable since February at $58m, according to Clarksons figures — down from $60m over the first half of 2023.
Price stability has apparently helped breathe new life into the secondhand market, as VLCC freight rates slowly recover in September from a 10-month low the previous month.
TradeWinds reported in late August that Greek owner Evangelos Marinakis landed a $1bn deal to sell nine VLCCs to Saudi company Bahri.
In early September, Greek peer Athenian Sea Carriers offloaded its last VLCC, an 11-year-old unit, for $80m to Norwegian buyers.
Last week, George Procopiou followed up with the sale of a 19-year-old ship for about $41m.
In another deal reported by brokers this week, but which may have been less recent, the 319,200-dwt Madesta (renamed Madestar, built 2005) changed hands for about $40m.
The scrubber-fitted, South Korean-built ship was sold by a previously unknown Turkey-based Peruvian Shipping to a Chinese single-ship company called Neowave Management.
