Norway's Knutsen Group is continuing to sell its elderly shuttle tankers for demolition and is benefiting from the firm market.
Brokers said the 153,000-dwt Sallie Knutsen (built 1999) had been sold for scrap in Bangladesh for an undisclosed sum, but this has not been confirmed.
The location the Haugesund-based company has chosen to scrap the Sallie Knutsen will be watched with interest, given regulatory constraints and that Turkish yards will pay only about half of what is offered by Indian subcontinent yards.
The Sallie Knutsen would fetch in excess of $600 per ldt to an Indian subcontinent yard, according to broker quotes.
Knutsen director John Einar Dalsvaag said the company had no comment on the sale until the tanker is delivered to its new owner.
The company has typically tended to keep its tankers until they are 20 years old.
Observers may be puzzled why Knutsen chose to scrap the Sallie Knutsen now, when the tanker is not due for its next special survey until April 2024.
Trygve Seglem-controlled Knutsen is also a 50:50 partner with Japan’s NYK Line in KNOT Offshore Tankers, one of the leading operators of bow loaders with about 30 tankers.
