Several shipowners have recently sold aged tankers as secondhand prices for vintage assets remain resilient, according to market sources.
Brokers reported a healthy appetite for old tonnage with rising demolition rates and potential shipping requirements for sanctioned oil.
“Demolition prices keep surging in recent months,” Banchero Costa’ head of research Ralph Leszczynski told TradeWinds. “The secondhand value of a 20-year-old vessel is essentially scrap value plus a premium.”
Maran gets rid of VLCC
Among recent sales, Maran Tankers is said to have sold the 310,100-dwt VLCC Maran Regulus (built 2000) — one of its oldest VLCCs — to undisclosed buyers for $21m.
Managers at the John Angelicoussis-led company declined to comment, citing standard company policy to not discuss commercial matters.
Athens-based brokers are listing the vessel as sold for further trading.
The Maran Regulus is currently anchored off Singapore. Some believe the ship is idle after a six-month oil storage charter with Indonesia's Pertamina that expired in early November.
In the same month, the vessel was renamed Regulus and its flag changed from Greece to the Marshall Islands.
That strongly suggests a change of ownership also occurred at the same time, possibly to cash buyers who could eventually opt to sell the 20-year-old vessel for scrap.
Ships with non-European Union flags have a wider choice of scrapyards available to them in the Indian subcontinent.
Vintage LR2 and suezmax sold
Separately, some sources said Buana Lintas Lautan disposed the 109,000-dwt Petroleum 115 (built 2000) for $431 per ldt in a scrap deal, assuming the owner can deliver the LR2 to a South Asian shipbreaker.
But the actual rate could be lower as the vessel is sold on an as-is Southeast Asia basis, one of them added.
TradeWinds has approached the Indonesian tanker owner — better known as BULL — for further clarification.
Brokers also reported Ridgebury Tankers sold the 164,600-dwt Ridgebury Alina L (built 2001) for $13.5m to an unnamed Middle Eastern firm.
The ship, which had been deployed to a Navig8 pool last year, was circulated for sale for several months.
Ridgebury declined to comment on the sale. Navig8 has removed the ship from the fleet list on its website.
Weak outlook
Most tanker players believe secondhand prices for tankers will face more downwards pressure with bearish earnings prospects, though.
With weak oil consumption and the Opec+ supply cut during the coronavirus pandemic, freight rates are expected to stay low in the months to come.
VesselsValue data shows the prices for 20-year-old VLCCs and suezmaxes remain decent despite having corrected by more than 20% since May. Those for vintage aframaxes and LR2s have changed little.
“In 2018 and 2019, prices were lower than now. We are still on the high side really,” said a broker. “There is a lot of potential room for prices to come off.”
Joe Brady contributed to the article.
