The tanker market bonanza continues to provide a lucrative exit strategy for owners of aged vessels.
In another characteristic example of the trend, Ancora Investment Trust offloaded a 20-year-old unit at a bumper price.
According to shipping sources, the Athens-based company achieved $17.5m for the 40,100-dwt Jenny I (built 2003).
The private deal was concluded below brokers’ radar about a month ago, TradeWinds has learned.
The sale price is considerably above the $15m that online valuation platforms Signal Ocean and VesselsValue estimated the ship was worth at the time.
One reason that probably explains some of the premium is that Ancora put the vessel through special survey before selling it.
Another could be that the Jenny I was built at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. The reputable South Korean builder churns out vessels that are popular with Middle Eastern and Turkish interests that have been fuelling much of the recent tanker sale-and-purchase activity.
Ancora, a low-profile company controlled by members of the Vernicos and Paraschis families, has moved methodically to benefit from that window of opportunity.
The Jenny I is the fourth MR the company is selling since August last year.
Ancora’s previous deal unfolded in late March, when the company disposed of the 38,400-dwt Jemma (renamed Ragnar, built 2008) for $18.5m.
In another deal at the end of January, Ancora received about $16m for the 37,000-dwt Naftilos AN (built 2003). The ship has since emerged as Magni Alexa in the fleet of Turkey’s Imza Denizcilik.
Ancora’s first sale in this series of transactions took place last summer, when it disposed of the 46,000-dwt Crown II (renamed Own II, built 2003).
The four sales leave Ancora with seven MR tankers built between 2003 and 2008 and another, much more modern one, built as recently as last year.
The company took delivery of the 39,800-dwt Akti (built 2022) from Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuiding in July 2022, as tanker freight rates and ship values were surging due to changing trade patterns in the wake of the Ukraine war.
Ancora, a conservative player, is not known to have made any other newbuilding or acquisition moves since.
