An Athens tanker player that rarely makes headlines has made the first in what has the potential to develop into a string of lucrative divestments.
Petrochem General Management achieved a considerable profit by flipping a 17-year-old MR2 at a 38% premium compared with the price it paid Ridgebury Tankers for it about two years ago.
The ship in question is the 50,000-dwt Sea La Vie (built 2007), which several brokers report this week as changing hands for $24.85m.
The HD Hyundai Mipo-built ship is under new management and trades under its new name, Valery Roma.
This suggests the deal may be a few weeks old. VesselsValue, for example, indicates the transaction took place at the end of July.
Brokers report the ship’s new owners are Greek.
The tanker, however, is listed under the commercial management of a one-vessel company based in Liberia and Synergy Marine Germany features as its technical manager.
Petrochem officials did not respond to an email asking if it planned to sell any other MRs.
Diving into new segment
Founded in 2009, Petrochem’s fleet used to consist of small chemical tankers, seven of which continue to trade with the company.
In 2022, however, Petrochem started expanding into the MR segment with a string of acquisitions in the secondhand market.
The Sea La Vie — formerly trading as the Ridgebury Saturn — was its first buy in September of that year.
By December 2023, three more purchases followed with an estimated total outlay of about $70m: the 46,900-dwt Ridgebury Mercury (renamed Sea La Belle, built 2008); the 46,100-dwt UOG Helios (renamed Sea La Bamba); and the 47,100-dwt Tradewind Energy (renamed Sea La Donna, both built 2009).
The three ships combined are worth about $80m in total, according to VesselsValue and Signal Ocean.
In other recent MR deals, Greece’s Sea Trade Marine is said to have obtained $17.9m last week for the much older, 46,400-dwt Caribbean Star (built 2004).
