China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) offshoot CS Shipping is selling one of its VLCCs via an auction on the Guangzhou Shipping Exchange.
The base price for the 281,705-dwt CS Pioneer (built 1998) has been set at $14.7m, according to the exchange.
VesselsValue estimates the ship’s price at nearly $16.1m, in line with the ship's scrap value.
Interested buyers will need to submit their bids by 18 March.
The vintage vessel, constructed by Hitachi Zosen’s Ariake yard, is currently used to store oil off Malaysia.
TradeWinds reported CS Shipping acquired CS Pioneer, formerly named Nichihiko, from JX Group for $25.3m in 2014.
From 2014 to 2016, the CSSC subsidiary bought a total of five aged VLCC for floating storage use.
Aside from the vessel on auction, CS Shipping owns the 281,700-dwt CS Pioneer (built 1999), 301,200-dwt CS Innovation (built 1997), 301,000-dwt CS Development (built 1997) and 300,100-dwt CS Brilliance (built 1998), according to VesselsValue.
CS Shipping is believed to have worked closely with CSSC Energy, the Chinese state shipbuilding conglomerate’s energy trading arm.
