Andreas Martinos-led Minerva Marine, one of Greece’s biggest tanker owners, has joined the selling spree raging in the secondhand market by offloading its oldest product carrier.
Brokers in London and the US report that the Athens-based company — an owner of 58 tankers and 11 bulkers — has sold the 46,700-dwt MR Surfer Rosa (built 2004) to undisclosed buyers.
The ship has been in Minerva’s fleet since Hyundai Mipo Dockyard delivered it as a newbuilding.
Its market value had slid to as low as $8m earlier this year, dragged down by its advancing age and lacklustre tanker markets.
However, its value climbed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lifted freight rates.
According to brokers, the ship has now found buyers for about $16m. That is more than the $14.8m that VesselsValue estimates the Surfer Rosa is currently worth.
Tanker markets are moving so quickly that market analysts find it hard to agree on values. Maritime date platform Signal Ocean puts an indicative $17.6m price tag on the ship.
Managers at Minerva declined to provide clarity, citing a standard policy to not comment on commercial matters.
However if confirmed, the deal would mark the first ship sale by the company in almost a year.
Records suggest that Minerva owner Martinos likes to offload tankers when they are past the 17-year age mark.
The company has plenty of other ships that have just reached that age — one MR and six aframaxes, according to its fleet list.
Renewing at a profit
Norden, another major tanker owner and operator, is believed to be divesting an MR as well.
Clarksons reports the 50,400-dwt Laperouse (built 2011) as sold to undisclosed buyers for about $26m.
The Chinese-built vessel is not equipped with a scrubber.
Norden managers were not immediately able to comment.
The company has been generally upping its exposure to the product tanker market in a well-timed move that boosted its profitability.
That, however, has not stopped Norden from selling some of its older tankers in order to focus on more modern, fuel-efficient ships.
Between October 2021 and March 2022, the Copenhagen-listed firm sold four MRs of a similar age to the Laperouse.
Three of them went to Greek buyers, as TradeWinds reported: Mantinia Shipping picked up the 38,300-dwt Nord Swan (renamed Vorias, built 2009); Roxana Shipping the 37,100-dwt Nord Highlander (built 2007); and Lion Bulk Carriers the 38,300-dwt Nord Snow Queen (renamed Atlas Star).
A sale of the Laperouse, if confirmed, would mean that the company can pursue the same strategy at more lucrative price levels.
The $26m price tag for the Laperouse is 44% above the $18m that Norden sold the 50,300-dwt sistership Nord Gainer (renamed La Digue, built 2011) back in October last year to interests backed by Oaktree Capital Management.
The price gap is particularly stark when one considers that the $18m fetched by the Nord Gainer at the time was said to also include future earnings from an ongoing time charter.
