Geneva-based Advantage Tankers is stepping up its presence in the LR1 tanker sector with a series of newbuildings.
The company, which made its debut in the panamax product tanker business in April by acquiring three such vessels on the secondhand market, is expanding the fleet by ordering two newbuildings at a South Korean shipyard.
Advantage Tankers has struck a deal with K Shipbuilding for two 73,400-dwt product carriers. The order does not include optional vessels.
According to sources, the contract for the ships was signed last week.
The pair, which is due for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, is already listed on the Advantage Tankers website and they will be named Advantage Passion and Advantage Path, respectively.
“With the new trade routes, LR1s are getting popular and with a very thin orderbook, [we] believe it is a good segment to invest in,” Advantage Tankers chief executive Tugrul Tokgoz told TradeWinds.
No price details were disclosed but sources said the company is paying close to $60m each for its new panamax product carriers.
The contract with K Shipbuilding is the third newbuilding deal for Advantage Tankers this year, bringing the value of its investment to more than $530m in total.
Early this year, the company contracted DH Shipbuilding to build three suezmaxes at more than $81m apiece. This was followed by two 157,000-dwt crude carriers at Japan’s Nihon Shipyard in July. The price of Nihon’s suezmax tankers was not disclosed but brokers estimated the cost at about $85m each.
DH Shipbuilding is scheduled to deliver the Advantage Sierra, Advantage Smooth and Advantage Solo in the second and third quarters of 2025.
Nihon — a joint venture between Japan’s two largest shipbuilding groups, Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United — will deliver the Advantage Smart and Advantage Serenity in the third and fourth quarters of 2025, respectively.
Fleet renewal through secondhand moves
Advantage Tankers has been reshaping its fleet through busy activity on the secondhand market.
The company first entered the LR1 tanker business in April, with the purchase of three modern, secondhand, scrubber-fitted eco-tankers from Nautical Bulk Holdings: the 75,100-dwt Advantage Portocervo (ex-Nautical Sarah, built 2019), the 75,100-dwt Advantage Padova (ex-Nautical Janine, built 2019) and the 75,300-dwt Advantage Portofino (ex-Nautical Deborah, built 2018).
Brokers suggested at the time that Advantage Tankers had paid a total of $153m for the trio.
Advantage Tankers has also been busy on the other side of the sale-and-purchase fence this year, by selling its three, ageing MR1 product tankers.
Two of them have emerged with Turkey’s Besiktas Group since. The 37,300-dwt sister ships Advantage Pride and Advantage Pretty (both built 2006) are currently trading as Ulus and Gelibolu, respectively.
A third sister ship, the Advantage Party, was picked up for about $17m by another Turkish company — Akbasoglu Holdings’ Trans KA Tanker Management, which has renamed the ship Caria KA.
Advantage Tankers was created in 2015 to buy 18 aframaxes, suezmaxes and product tankers from Turkey’s Geden Lines.
Following this year’s secondhand moves, Advantage Tankers has today 22 tankers on the water. Its diversified fleet consists of dual-fuel and conventional VLCCs, as well as suezmaxes, aframaxes and LR1 product tankers.
