News of Minerva Marine’s latest disposal confirms that Greek owners of ageing tanker tonnage can keep counting on healthy buying appetite east of the Aegean.
Athens brokers and ship management sources said the Martinos family company has agreed to offload the 105,300-dwt Minerva Zoe (built 2004).
This is one of the seven oldest tankers in the major Greek owner’s fleet, all built in 2004.
The Hyundai Samho-built, ice-class 1D aframax is said to be changing hands for around $31m, which represents considerable value for a 19-year-old vessel that will have to pass special survey by next spring.
Tanker prices have soared since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, as Western sanctions against Russia boosted buying interest from Asian buyers often unconstrained by anything decided in Washington, Brussels or London.
Prices have reached levels that have started dampening buying interest. Taking the Minerva Zoe as an example, broker data suggests that its value has plateaued in recent weeks.
The $31m it is believed to have fetched, however, still beats the $30.7m that VesselsValue estimates it is currently worth.
Nothing left to sell?
The Minerva Zoe has been reportedly bought by Chinese interests — another piece of information that fits well-established patterns.
Chinese investors are known to be regularly pouncing on ageing tanker tonnage for all sizes, for trading or for storage.
In another recent example, Athens-based brokers reported this week that Chinese interests are spending $42.5m on a Bahri-owned VLCC, the 316,500-dwt Lulu (built 2003).
Similar patterns are replicated in another couple of Greek tanker sales.
Athens-based Benetech is said to be earning about $18m from divesting the 75,000-dwt LR1 product tanker Faros (built 2005).
It will trade as Beks Renz and its new owner is Turkey’s Beks Ship Management & Trading — a serial ship buyer that has acquired 25 tankers since it began investing in such vessels two years ago.
The first tanker Beks bought at the time was a ship sold by Minerva Marine.
Another Asian buyer pouncing on Greek tanker tonnage recently is Pacific Ocean Sea Transport, a company with no known previous history in tankers.
Several brokers in London and Athens are reporting that the Vietnam-based outfit has agreed to acquire the 51,000-dwt product carrier Falcon Sextant (built 2009) for close to $26m.
Vietnamese buying appetite seems to have provided the ship’s previous owner, Greece’s Falcon Navigation, with an opportunity to cash out of the market at its peak.
If confirmed, the lucrative sale of the Falcon Sextant would be the MR2 specialist’s third disposal since May 2022 and leave the Gerakis family-owned outfit without any other ships.
