Three middle-aged VLCCs put up for sale late last week attracted bids below the level achieved by similar vessels earlier this year.
Prospective buyers offered about $62m each for Asyad Shipping’s scrubber-fitted, 316,400-dwt sister ships Fida and Sifa (both built 2011), as well as the 300,000-dwt Saham (built 2010), Athens brokers said.
According to other Athens-based brokers, one of the vessels attracted a higher price — nearly $64m.
TradeWinds has already reported that Asyad — the former Oman Shipping Co — is open to the vessels being sold individually or en bloc and that there is also the prospect of securing charterback deals on the ships.
At the time of writing, the vessels had yet to be committed, according to brokers.
A price of $62m or even $64m looks low compared with the exorbitant levels that similar ships changed hands for earlier in the year.
In April, the 317,400-dwt Athenian Glory (renamed Athina, built 2011), another vessel built at Hyundai Heavy Industries, is believed to have fetched around $66m, even though it had no scrubber installed.
The bids for Asyad’s VLCC trio are also considerably below what VesselsValue and Signal Ocean estimate they are worth.
The valuations from the two online shipping data platforms range between $62.4m and $69.3m for the three vessels, which have a frequent and smooth trading history behind them and quite a few years of “decent trading life ahead of them”, according to some brokers.
This does not necessarily mean Asyad will refuse to sell them. The state-owned entity has embarked on a natural fleet-renewal process and the three vessels have been trading with the company since they were delivered as newbuildings.
Sluggish deal pace
Tanker values soaring after the Ukraine war reached levels so high that buying appetite has visibly decreased lately.
Another factor weighing on the market is that demand for older ships to carry Russian oil has slackened, as much of that trade is expected to be carried by the mainstream fleet under Western price caps.
As a result, tanker sale-and-purchase grounded to a halt around the turn of the month, as TradeWinds reported on 4 July.
Deals reported by brokers since have been few and far between and concern midsize, older product tankers.
In one of them, China’s Sinopec is said to be selling the 47,300-dwt MR2 Beacon Hill (built 2005) for $19m.
Chinese buyers are said to be spending $17.5m on NYK Lines’ 47,900-dwt Magellan Endeavour (built 2006), while other Chinese interests offloaded the 45,000-dwt Yongsheng Ocean (renamed CR Tethys, built 2006) for $7.2m.
Some other tanker deals that surfaced this week are actually older and, therefore, not characteristic of current market trends.
In an all-Turkish deal in June, Advantage Tankers agreed to sell the 37,300-dwt Advantage Pretty (built 2006) to Besiktas Group for an undisclosed price.
The Advantage Pretty, one of the three oldest ships in Advantage Tankers’ fleet of 25 vessels on the water, will be delivered to its new owners at the end of this month.
Finally, as a reminder of the fabulous asset plays that soaring tanker values have made possible in recent months, the United Arab Emirates’ FMTC Ship Charter has emerged as the new manager of the 159,400-dwt Eurodignity (renamed Dignity I, built 2004).
According to London and US-based brokers, the suezmax changed hands in May for about $38.6m. Its previous owner — Greece’s Eurotankers — had bought it six years ago for about $18.8m.
