The widely reported sale of an MR2 tanker by Greece’s Navios Maritime Partners last month was probably not a one-off.
Two weeks after TradeWinds reported that Navios principal Angeliki Frangou obtained about $26m from the sale of the 50,500-dwt Nave Equator (built 2009) to Indonesians, the major Greek owner is believed to have sold a sister ship.
Brokers in London, the US and Greece report that the 50,500-dwt Nave Orbit (built 2009) fetched $25.9m or $26m in a deal with unidentified Middle Eastern interests.
Managers at Navios did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the company generally does not discuss its commercial transactions outside its quarterly earnings statements.
However, the timing of the vessel sales seems opportune amid soaring demand for MR2 tankers as the pair reach the end of their ongoing charters in October, when they are scheduled to undergo special survey.
According to the Navios Partners website, the Nave Equator is currently on a charter with unidentified clients bringing in $23,300 per day.
The Nave Orbit earns a far lower $15,306 per day.
An additional reason why a parallel sale of both vessels would not be a surprise is the common history they have had so far.
Both ships were built at SPP Shipbuilding in South Korea, possibly ordered by Turkey’s Genel Denizcilik, which sold them on to Frangou in 2011.
Trading as the Bull and Buddy at the time, the ships were bought by Navios for $84.8m en bloc in a deal that included consideration for ongoing three-year charters well above market rates — $22,490 per day for the first year and $21,503 per day for the remainder.
However, two years later STX Pan Ocean reneged on the charters, forcing Navios to find other employment for the pair at lower rates.
In 2019, Frangou refinanced both ships by selling them to Chinese leasing houses and then leasing them back for about five or six years.
Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Co bought the Nave Equator, while AVIC International Leasing bought the Nave Orbit.
More sales coming?
The Nave Equator and Nave Orbit are two of the four oldest tankers in Navios Partners’ fleet of 17 MR2s on the water.
The other two are the 50,900-dwt sister ships Nave Equinox and Nave Pulsar (both built 2007).
The pair is currently earning about $21,000 per day in chartering deals that include an ice-transit premium and which expire in October 2024 and September 2025, respectively.
The company currently has six MR2s under construction due for delivery between 2025 and 2027.
Navios is engaged in a wide-ranging fleet renewal process under which it shakes out older ships that are replaced with newbuildings or younger tonnage.
Between the summer of 2022 — when Frangou formed Navios Maritime Partners to bring the fleets of former affiliates Navios Maritime Holdings, Navios Maritime Containers and Navios Maritime Acquisition under the same roof — and May 2024, Navios raised about $680m from 28 confirmed sales of bulkers, tankers and container ships.
The tally could rise to 35 ships for total proceeds of about $800m if Navios confirms the sale of the Nave Orbit and Nave Equator, as well as other broker reports that have linked the company to five sales of bulkers and container ships since April.
