A VLCC is about to become the first to be demolished this year.
Brokers said the 300,000-dwt Sam (built 1996) is reported to have gone to Pakistan on the basis of being delivered under tow.
The sources said the tanker, formerly Zoya 1, has fetched $365 per ldt, or $15.5m.
A lot of mystery has surrounded the tanker and its ownership since 2015, when it reportedly was purchased by Ullib Shipping for $20.5m.
Several tanker brokers question whether the vessel has traded at all since joining the Ullib fleet.
The ship has a chequered history.
The Sam was previously registered at Indian Register of Shipping (IRS), but class is now withdrawn.
In 2018 crew on board sent out an SOS claimed they had been trapped on board for over a year with no pay and no opportunity to go home.
At the time, legal representatives of Avantgarde Petroleum Co, a company that had previously chartered the tanker, told the Khaleej Times it had been arrested by a Swiss bank over loan payment problems.
Ullib Shipping is listed as being a St Kitts & Nevis-based company, without any address or contact details given.
In January of this year, four people were confirmed dead in a blaze on the ship off the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The blaze took place during repair work.
