Saudi Arabian state-controlled shipowner Bahri has reportedly offloaded two 15-year-old MR tankers for what appears to be a discount to industry valuations.
European brokers have linked the 46,000-dwt NCC Sudair and NCC Rabigh (both built 2007) to an en-bloc sale at around $35m, or $36.4m.
VesselsValue assesses the ships as worth about $44m combined, against a background of rising rates and asset values.
Special surveys are due in November, however.
The ships have been owned by Bahri since delivery.
Turkey’s Mercan Group, named as the buyer, has six small product tankers already in its fleet.
Bahri is not a big player in sale-and-purchase markets.
Its only sale recorded since the start of 2020 was the disposal in July this year of the 316,500-dwt VLCC Tinat (built 2002) for $30m to unknown Chinese interests.
In fact, before the latest sale, only four vessels had been offloaded since 2009.
Strong S&P trajectory
Bahri has not bought a secondhand ship since 2016.
Bahri and Mercan have been contacted for comment.
Brokers also said UK owner Union Maritime has sold the 46,800-dwt MR Hyde (built 2007) to unknown interests for $22.7m.
The ship was acquired in 2017 from Dutch owner Vroon for $15.6m.
Greece’s Allied Shipbroking said: “On the tanker side, it is rather apparent that things have moved on a stronger trajectory for some time now, given the good activity levels being noted in the market.”
But it noted a small step back in the past week, due to a “considerably lower” number of vessels being reported as sold.
The outlook remains positive in the sector, however.
“All-in-all, given the recent momentum in terms of earnings, coupled with the general positive attitude surrounding this market for some time now, we can vision for a relatively fervent S&P market for the upcoming period,” Allied said.
