Deals for very big tankers have become extremely rare in the secondhand market lately, but Pantheon Tankers may be about to conclude one.
Athens brokers and other market sources are reporting that the Greek owner has a tentative agreement to offload the oldest of its 10 VLCCs.
The 318,400-dwt Astro Chloe (built 2009) is said to have been committed to Chinese interests at a price between $62m and $63m.
The putative deal is in line with reports from late June that enquiries for VLCCs built between 2005 and 2010 have been picking up, despite negative earnings performance of the size.
As crude carriers managed to reverse much of that earning discount since, owners’ confidence in the sector has strengthened, Eva Tzima, head of research at Seaborne Shipbrokers, noted on 17 July.
The tentative Astro Chloe deal suggests that some of that confidence is now spilling over into the secondhand market, finally translating into deals.
The price of between $62m and $63m fetched by the ship is far above the $56.9m or $60.8m that VesselsValue and Signal Ocean respectively estimate it is worth.
Part of the premium is probably due to the fact that the Astro Chloe, which was built at Hyundai Heavy Industries, comes with a scrubber installed.
Pantheon thus seems to have found an advantageous moment to part with the vessel, about five months before it is due to pass special survey.
If the deal is completed, it will be Pantheon’s first tanker sale since July last year, when it divested an 18-year-old suezmax pair that has since been managed by Chinese interests.
In the meantime, the owner has been expanding its tanker orderbook, signing a quartet of LR2s at Cosco Heavy Industry Yangzhou Shipyard due for delivery in 2026.
Pantheon’s current fleet on the water, including the Astro Chloe, consists of 40 ships from MR product tankers to VLCCs.
The last VLCC transaction on the secondhand market before the Astro Chloe was the 316,000-dwt Lulu (built 2003), which Saudi Arabian tanker giant Bahri is believed to have sold to a Chinese buyer for $42.5m.
The Lulu has already changed hands and is now listed as Mega in the managed fleet of Singapore’s VR Marine Management.
In early July, Asyad Shipping is said to have to received bids of $62m each for three scrubber-fitted VLCCs — the 316,400-dwt sister ships Fida and Sifa (both built 2011), as well as the 300,000-dwt Saham (built 2010).
No deal, however, is known to have come to fruition for the trio.
