A sale-and-purchase deal that set brokers’ pulses racing late last week was confirmed on Wednesday, setting a new price level for secondhand product tankers.
A manager at Athens-based Naftomar Shipping & Trading confirmed that his company has acquired the 74,600-dwt Siena and its sister ship Aesop (both built 2012).
The pair, built at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, will henceforth trade as Northern Light and Silverlight respectively.
The executive did not comment on the price of the transaction other than to comment that it was lower than the $41.5m to $41.8m apiece suggested by some brokers.
But even the $40m-plus price tag, which TradeWinds understands is a more accurate reflection of the deal, represents a “serious firming” of asset prices, as Xclusiv Shipbrokers commented in its weekly report.
Based on data as of 6 October, the Signal Ocean valuation platform estimates the two vessels are worth about $33m each.
Two reasons that would justify the high price are the vessels’ very good condition, as well as their prompt delivery. Furthermore, both passed their special survey late last year, which means they will not have to incur that cost until early 2027.
However, there are no other vessel-specific characteristics that would justify the price escalation.
The Siena and Aesop are not ice-class and do not come equipped with a scrubber.
The price also does not reflect any revenue from ongoing employment, as they are delivered charter-free and will be commercially managed in-house, as all other Naftomar’s LPG ships and tankers are.
The deal represents a brilliant asset play for the vessels’ seller, Alberta Shipmanagement of Greece.
The Nicholas Inglessis-led company has at least doubled its money on the duo, which it had acquired from Sovcomflot last year, shortly after the West imposed sanctions on Russia.
Alberta spent about $39.5m on the vessels, which were trading at the time as SCF Progress and SCF Prudencia.
The owner has been spending cash to expand in bulkers recently, emerging as the buyer of Japanese-built 178,500-dwt capesize AM Gijon (built 2011).
Naftomar, traditionally an LPG player, has been pivoting towards product tankers instead.
It re-entered that sector after 30 years last December. The Aesop and Siena are the fourth and fifth product tankers the company has acquired since, and by far its biggest.
Naftomar has been a busy player in the secondhand market in its traditional LPG sector as well.
Earlier this year, it doubled its money on the sale of the 79,500-cbm Gaz Liberty (renamed Gaz GMS, built 1997).
Naftomar had spent about $16m to buy it in June 2018, when LPG carriers were recording some of the lowest earnings in recent history. It sold the ship amid soaring LPG spot freight rates in April for between $30m and $32.5m.
Last month, it used some of these proceeds to buy a much younger vessel, the 84,100-cbm Saltram (built 2015), from Petredec for about $73.5m
Naftomar is one of Greece’s oldest LPG players. It was originally based in Lebanon, but the Zein family that controls the company moved it to Athens more than 30 years ago.
