Middle Eastern and Turkish buyers continue to lap up older tankers put up for sale by Greek owners at price levels described by market watchers as “substantial”.
The asset play window created by that interest has now opened for Eurotankers.
According to Greek and US brokers, the Gotsis family-controlled company has doubled its money with the sale of the 159,300-dwt suezmax Eurovoyager (built 2005).
Middle Eastern buyers, possibly based in the United Arab Emirates, are said to be paying $37m or $37.5m for the vessel.
Regardless of the exact price, Eurotankers stands to book a profit of nearly 100% on the ship, which it purchased more than four years ago for about $19m when it was trading as Toledo Spirit in the fleet of Spanish oil company Cepsa.
What’s more, Eurotankers could repeat the trick with more vessels. The Eurovoyager was one of three suezmaxes that it bought at about the same time and at around the same price.
The 159,100-dwt Euroleader (ex-United Leadership, built 2005) and 150,000-dwt Eurodignity (ex-Teide Spirit, built 2004) are still with the Piraeus-based company’s fleet.
Managers at Eurotankers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Another big tanker asset play may be brewing at Salmar, another Greek company.
The Salonitis family outfit was not known as a suezmax player when in May 2020 it surprisingly purchased the 159,400-dwt SKS Sinni (built 2003) — an LR3 product carrier.
Salmar’s foray into the big tanker league has been successful. About three years after paying about $21.3m for the vessel, it is now said to be flipping it to Middle Eastern buyers at $37m.
Salmar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A third Greek tanker owner in quiet selling mode has been Ancora Investment Trust.
Since taking delivery of a 40,000-dwt ammonia and LNG-ready MR tanker newbuilding from Hyundai Vietnam last July, the company has been shaking out older tonnage at increasingly handsome prices.
Last August, the 46,000-dwt Crown II (built 2003) was sold at an undisclosed price and is now under Indian technical management as Own II.
Ancora doubled down on tanker sales. According to market sources, it has disposed of the 38,400-dwt Jemma (built 2008) for $18m and 37,400-dwt Naftilos AN (built 2003) for $15m.
Tidy asset play
Both vessels are due for special survey and dry-docking. The sale of the Jemma represents a tidy asset play — the company bought it in 2017 for about $13m.
Lucrative Greek tanker sales have been a common theme over the past 12 months, as TradeWinds has reported.
Buying interest from Asian outfits in jurisdictions unencumbered by US sanctions against Russia has been the main driver in that development, which has taken such a dimension as to shrink the size of the Greek-controlled fleet.
Greeks have not been the only players to benefit from such sales, however. European and Turkish owners have carried out several as well.
In one of the latest such deals reported, unidentified interests spent $43m on the 115,900-dwt aframax Afra Royal (built 2010).
The Kaptanoglu Group, which is listed as the vessel’s owner, did not respond to a request for comment.
