Tanker giant Euronav is close to resuming its policy of offloading vintage tankers, amid infinitely more favourable conditions than the last time it did so earlier this year.
The Brussels and New York-listed owner is in advanced talks to sell the 158,900-dwt Cap Guillaume (built 2006) to undisclosed buyers, according to broking sources in Athens.
If a deal materialises, it will be at a price setting a new benchmark in an environment of inexorably rising tanker values. Brokers said the transaction is being negotiated at $35m.
Managers at Euronav didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The company sold slightly older vessels during the first half of the year, at considerably lower levels.
In April, Euronav offloaded the 50/50-owned 159,200-dwt Bari (renamed Leopard I, built 2005) for $21.5m.
During the same period it sold another two ships as well — the 159,000-dwt Cap Leon (renamed Nanda Devi, built 2003) and the 159,000-dwt Cap Pierre (renamed Huelva Star, built 2004).
The company didn’t disclose any information on those deals other than to say that it realised a capital gain of $12.4m from the disposal of the two debt-free ships.
The Bari, Cap Leon and Cap Pierre had been the oldest suezmaxes in Euronav’s fleet, which spans more than 70 tankers.
Their sale left four other vessels in that position — the Cap Guillaume, its sisterships Cap Charles and Cap Philippe, as well as the smaller, 150,200-dwt Statia (built 2006). Euronav has been trading the quartet in the spot market.
The company, which is known to be renewing its fleet with modern ships, may find no sweeter spot than this to resume selling its ‘oldies’.
Tanker values are soaring as impending western sanctions against Russia are limiting European companies’ scope to trade such ships and create enormous appetite by non-European buyers.
In an indication of that appetite, the Signal Ocean data platform estimated the Cap Guillaume’s value at just $19.8m on 24 February, when Russia invaded Ukraine. The same data provider currently puts its worth at $32.4m.
In a further sign of how quickly ship values accelerate, making it difficult for data providers to catch up, VesselsValue estimates the Cap Guillaume’s worth at an even lower $30.6m.
The Cap Guillaume was built at Samsung Heavy Industries and passed its special survey in December last year.
