Greek shipowner Evangelos Marinakis is being linked to the purchase of an aframax tanker in a deal which would set a strong price marker for the ships.
Private company Capital Maritime is rumoured to be paying in the region of $13m for the 106,000-dwt CSK Shelton (built 2005).
Brokers said the ship attracted strong interest from the Greek market at a time the tanker sector is experiencing a seasonal uptick.
Clarksons reports the attention attracted by the vessel is undoubtedly the result of upturn in rates and the lure of acquiring tonnage at close to historically low levels.
Attempts to reach executives at Capital and Hong Kong owner TCC Group were unsuccessful at the time of writing on Monday.
The vessel is the oldest of the five aframaxes TCC had on the water.
Price expectations on the vessel vary from $12.5m to over $13m. Even at the lower end of the range, brokers say the deal would mark a climb from last done.
Back in June, Thenamaris bough the 114,500-dwt Sparto and Pantelos (both built 2004) for $11.5m each.
Marinakis is a known asset player and Capital has more than 60 ships on the water.
It is active in the tanker market across the VLCC to aframax space, where it has one ship on the water and two on order.
Public company Capital Product Partners also has a presence in the aframax sector.
