Greek tanker owner Ancora Investment Trust is making a fleet-renewal move with the purchase of a 12-year-old MR tanker reportedly from Denmark’s Norden.
Greek brokers said the company has purchased the 38,000-dwt Nord Butterfly (built 2008).
It emerged as the Norden was reported to have sold the ship to a then-undisclosed Greek buyer for more than $9m.
The price looks attractive for the buyer, given market expectations that called for the ship to fetch a higher price.
VesselsValue estimates that the Nord Butterfly is worth $11.5m, while Maritime Strategies International puts its value at $11.6m.
Ancora, which declined to comment on reports of the sale, has a fleet of 10 MR tankers with an average age of 15 years. That includes three of the Nord Butterfly's sisterships.
The latest deal is the second sale-and-purchase transaction for the company this year.
In July, Ancora sold its oldest tanker — the 45,000-dwt Faneromeni A (built 2000) — for a reported $6.4m. The tanker passed special survey in September.
In 2016, Ancora purchased the 38,000-dwt Nord Princess (built 2006) — a sistership of the Nord Butterfly — from Norden for $13.5m.
It is now in the fleet of Kavos Shipping under the name Katerina 2.
In 2018, Ancora exited the suezmax market selling two tankers. The company was launched in 1986 as a pure bulker owner. It bought its first tanker in 1996 and has been been a pure tanker owner since 1998.
