Shipowners Filippos and Andonis Lemos have returned to Samsung Heavy Industries for a tanker order that continues the Greek dominance in the suezmax newbuilding scene this year.
Lemos family company Enesel has contracted two such units at the South Korean shipyard in a deal that renews a long-standing relationship.
The move means 13 new suezmax tankers have been ordered globally so far this year – with major Greek shipowners behind the backlog.
2021 handover
Seoul-listed SHI announced the contract for two 180,000-dwt tankers last week, with the pair set for delivery in the first quarter of 2021. The yard did not identify the owner.
TradeWinds understands the move marks Enesel’s second suezmax contract of 2019 and takes the company’s orderbook in the sector to six.
It is paying KRW 147m ($125m) for the latest two tankers, which will be fitted with scrubbers and ballast water treatment systems.
Tanker market sources said Enesel was the first Greek owner to order newbuildings at SHI back in 1992, with other notable deals between the pair including an aframax tanker contract in 2002.
Enesel has been growing its fleet across the crude tanker market during the past two years with multiple orders at various South Korean shipyards having been concluded at low pricing, sources noted.
The renewal and expansion drive began in 2017 with a series of four VLCCs at Hyundai Heavy Industries at a time when prices were significantly below today’s levels.
Three of the four VLCCs have since been delivered, with the final tanker slated for handover this year.
Aframaxes in focus
Last summer, Enesel turned its attention to the aframax tanker segment with a two-tanker order at Daehan Shipbuilding, where it has added a series of four suezmaxes – the first of which was booked in late 2018. All the newbuildings will be fitted with scrubbers to meet incoming IMO 2020 regulations.
Since 2017, Enesel has sold two veteran VLCCs and a pair of older tankers as well as four 13,800-teu containerships on long-term contracts.
The boxships went to John Fredriksen’s Ship Finance International in a deal that saw Enesel become a shareholder in the New York-listed company.
Enesel’s drive into the suezmax market, which started in late 2018, has taken it back into a sector where it was last present seven years earlier.
In 2011, Enesel exited the suezmax space with the sale of three 158,000-dwt newbuildings to US-based Principal Maritime Holdings, which was backed by private equity fund Apollo Global Management. The company was later sold to Teekay Tankers.
Suezmax tally
Today, Clarksons lists 53 suezmaxes on order, of which SHI has the largest share with 13 of the ships in its backlog.
Greek owners Tsakos Energy Navigation, John Angelicoussis, private Alafouzos family vehicle Kyklades Maritime and Samos Steamship are the only other parties known to have contracted suezmax tonnage in 2019.
Enesel's parent company, the Lemos Group, has been in the maritime industry for more than 170 years.
According to its website, the group comprises four wholly-owned shipping companies and employs about 900 seafarers and 60 shore-based staff. Its existing fleet consists of three VLCCs, three aframax tankers and 10 containerships.
