Major Greek shipowner Eastern Mediterranean Maritime (Eastmed) has bought an MR tanker under construction in South Korea.
The deal means the company has now snapped up six of the product tankers in resale acquisitions so far this year.
A senior company manager confirmed that Eastmed has recently agreed a resale deal to acquire an MR newbuilding at STX Offshore & Shipbuilding — a yard renamed K Shipbuilding a few months ago.
Price, hull numbers, delivery and other details for the ship were not forthcoming.
According to market sources in Athens, the ship in question is one of the two 50,000-dwt ships currently being built at the South Korean yard on behalf of Greece's SteelShips.
Nicholas Notias-led SteelShips acquired the vessels as resales in July, as TradeWinds reported, in what was the Greek owner’s first foray into tankers.
Shipbuilding sources in the Far East said the pair were originally options held by Island Navigation, which the Hong Kong-based company ultimately did not declare.
SteelShips managers were not available to comment.
If their company is indeed the seller, however, it would be a good deal for Notias, who is believed to have paid about $37m for the scrubber-ready and LNG fuel-ready tankers.
The transaction, however, makes a lot of sense for Eastmed as well. Had the company ordered the vessels at K Shipbuilding from scratch, it would likely have to pay about $40m and wait for delivery until the middle of 2024, as Louis Dreyfus Co did when ordering an MR there last month.
Despite sluggish tanker freight markets, newbuilding prices have continued climbing. Yards have already been hit by double-digit increases in the cost of steel plate, which have forced them to hike prices.
Clarksons' newbuilding price index rose in October for a 12th consecutive month to its highest level for 11 years.
Eastmed has already bought five 50,000-dwt MR newbuildings this year, originally ordered at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard by France’s Socatra and US-listed Top Ships.
The five ships have been delivered or are due for delivery next year and are estimated to have cost Eastmed close to $180m in total.
Eastmed’s MR resale buys have come amid a wide-ranging fleet renewal campaign. Between February 2010 and April 2021, the company offloaded 10 tankers built between 1999 and 2004, raising more than $170m in the process.
K Shipbuilding was formed in July, when merger-and-acquisition specialist KH Investment and debt clearing company United Asset Management paid STX creditors KRW 250bn ($210.5m) for a 95% stake in the yard.
Lucy Hine contributed to this article.
