Several vessels last known to be owned by Empire Product Tankers (EPT), a Stamatis Molaris company listed on the over-the-counter market of the Oslo Stock Exchange, have changed management this year and most likely ownership as well.
EPT entered the NOTC market in 2019.
In an announcement back in February 2021, the company said that it obtained 100% ownership of eight MR2 product tankers the description of which tallied with newbuildings previously ordered by private Molaris company Empire Navigation at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD).
This was the last public announcement that EPT has issued to this day.
Things, however, have moved on since.
Brokers reported this month about a sale on private terms of one of its ships — the 50,000-dwt Nikos M (built 2020) to London-based Union Maritime.
Managers at both Empire Navigation and Laurent Cadji-led Union Maritime did not respond to a request for comment.
Union Maritime’s website, however, confirms that the Nikos M is under its management under the new name of Eden.
Intriguingly, similar transactions seem to have happened below the radar earlier this year for another pair of tankers in the EPT fleet: the 50,000-dwt Orpheus and Jason (both built 2019), which are currently featured on Union Maritime’s website as Mersey and Tweed respectively.
The three deals happened months ago and their exact nature remains unclear.
Shipping market sources in Piraeus believe that at least one of the three ships, the Nikos M, changed hands as a result of a purchase option being exercised.
The parties involved in the putative transactions are difficult to fathom, given the complexity of the eight ships’ history.
The vessels were initially financed by Banc of America Capital & Leasing.
EPT said in its last public statement in 2021 that it chartered them in on bareboat charter terms under a lease finance structure and that it then chartered them out again to Cargill International.
In 2022, however, that arrangement seems to have changed, at least for some of the vessels.
Data on the S&P Global Markets data platform suggest that half of EPT’s fleet was re-financed that year with the help of China’s ICBC Financial Leasing Co: the 50,000-dwt Castor, Ion M, Proteus and Stamatia (all built 2019).
According to Equasis, three of these ships passed in June 2023 to Japanese interests.
The first is Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, which is listed as the registered owner of the Castor. The second is Mi-Das Line — a subsidiary of Doun Kisen — which is listed as the registered owner of the Proteus and the Ion M.
Again according to Equasis, Empire Navigation continues to manage the Castor and the Ion M. However, this is not the case with the Proteus, which is listed under the commercial management of Mercuria Shipping.
EPT has issued just 500 shares with a par value of $200 each. According to the latest NTOC data, the company’s market capitalisation is zero.
