Cypriot owner Andreas Hadjiyiannis' Hellenic Tankers has made its first move in the VLCC market for two years, emerging as the new owner of a ship from the stable of the former Xihe Group fleet.
The 318,400-dwt Chang Bai San (built 2012), a vessel reported sold by Xihe Group liquidators in late August for $41.5m, has entered the Hellenic fleet under its new name, VLCC Stephanie.
Exactly two years have passed since Hellenic made its last known VLCC acquisition — Mitsui OSK Lines’ 306,400-dwt Oriental Jade (built 2004), which has since been renamed Princess Alexia.
Hellenic's interest in returning to the market as a buyer probably stirred even before the company made its successful bid for the Chang Bai San.
In early August, several brokers identified Hadjiyiannis as buyer of NYK Lines' Japanese-built, 310,000-dwt Tsuruga (built 2009), which changed hands for $39.8m.
Contacted by TradeWinds, however, Hadjiyiannis denied involvement in the Tsuruga deal.
The Tsuruga has since emerged under its new name, Limnia, in the managed fleet of Greece’s Kyklades Maritime.
This, however, does not settle the question of the ship’s actual ownership. According to market sources in Athens, Kyklades is merely in charge of the vessel's commercial management.
IHS Markit shows Goodwood Ship Management as in charge of the Limnia's technical operations.
Hadjiyiannis is known for well-timed, shrewd countercyclical plays across all types of ships. He seems to have delivered yet another earlier this year if reports are accurate that he sold the 5,060-teu S Santiago (built 2006) to Singapore-based OM Maritime for $58m.
Clients of Hadjiyiannis-controlled Cyprus Sea Lines bought the vessel in 2015 for a mere $17m.
Stirring a row
Centrofin Management, another low-profile operator led by Dimitris Procopiou, emerged behind the purchase of the 50,000-dwt MR Marvin Independence (built 2018).
The ship was auctioned in Athens on 1 September to unidentified buyers for just $17.1m – far below the average $37.5m that VesselsValue and MSI Horizon estimate it is worth.
The reason for the low price was that the ship was embroiled in a dispute between clients of Marvin Shipping, who were its registered owners, and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which ordered the ship and claims it never ceased owning it.
Following poor tanker markets, Marvin's clients defaulted on debts and the ship went under auction in Piraeus. In order to be able to pursue its ownership claim, IRISL unsuccessfully tried to block the auction.
Even after the auction went ahead and the ship was transferred to Centrofin, IRISL tried to block it from leaving Greek waters.
A Greek court, however, struck down IRISL's request. The Marvin Independence, which is now named Agios Nikolaos, is shown by vessel trackers to have left the Elefsina anchorage, where it was idling.
In contrast to its legal setbacks in Greece, IRISL successfully blocked the planned auction of another two Marvin MRs in Rotterdam on 30 September, as TradeWinds reported.
As they try to wrest back control of the ships, entities understood to be linked to IRISL have spent at least $328,000 to settle crew wages that had led to their arrest.
Zissimatos strikes again?
In another stealthy Greek buy that is now coming to the fore, Sea Trade Marine has emerged as the new manager of the 47,000-dwt tanker Baron I (ex-Jasmine Express, built 2004) — a ship reported sold at the end of June by Hong Kong-based Island Navigation for $7.6m.
The Baron I is the second tanker to enter the Sea Trade Marine fleet recently, according to Equasis and IHS Markit.
The first was the 50,400-dwt Ocean Wave I (ex-Ocean Mercury, built 2008) — another tanker from the former Xihe Group fleet that changed hands in March for about $10.9m.
Sea Trade Marine obtained Greek registration in late August. Its application with authorities was filed by the same lawyer who had filed application papers on behalf of SR Navigation, a company linked with Greek owner Panagis Zissimatos.
Furthermore, Sea Trade Marine is listed under the same address as Swiss Carriers, another Greek company registered by Zissimatos in 2018.
