Piraeus and New York-based SteelShips is turning a quick profit from the sale of tanker newbuildings at a premium to the price it contracted them in the middle of last year.
According to market sources in Athens, company principal Nicholas Notias is expected to generate a profit of about $4m each from the pair of MR2 newbuildings ordered at K Shipbuilding.
TradeWinds reported in May last year that SteelShips paid about $46.3m each for the two vessels, which will be fitted with a scrubber and ready for LNG propulsion when delivered during the first half of 2025.
Their buyers remain unknown.
The S&P Global database is currently listing them as 49,700-dwt vessels with Hull No K1952 and K1953.
Notias has already given proof of how flexible he is when it comes to grasping profit opportunities in connection with rising asset values.
Shortly after ordering his first pair of MR2 newbuildings in 2021 — again at K Shipbuilding — Notias sold both to Greek peer Eastern Mediterranean Maritime.
Market sources believe that Notias could use the proceeds from his new resale deals to reinvest in newbuildings — but this time in bulkers.
SteelShips, the company Notias set up in 2013, has always considered bulkers as a core business.
TradeWinds already reported in May that SteelShips signed a letter of intent with a Chinese yard to build two firm ultramaxes for delivery in 2025.
These plans do not seem to have materialised so far, but they very well may in the near future, informed sources said.
