Japanese shipping conglomerate NYK Line has sold yet another VLCC as it shakes out older tankers and turns towards low-emission ships.
The 310,000-dwt Tsuruga (built 2009) was sold to a Greek buyer for $39.8m, according to brokers based in London and the US.
Tokyo-listed NYK declined to comment.
The Hitoshi Nagasawa-led company has sold six VLCCs since the beginning of 2020, all constructed between 2003 and 2011.
Greek buyers, such as Nicholas Moundreas and George Procopiou, featured largely among their buyers. Moundreas company NGM Energy picked up the 314,000-dwt Takahashi (built 2007) last month.
Last year, Procopiou’s Dynacom Tankers emerged with the 300,400-dwt Takasaki (built 2005) and the 306,000-dwt Tokitsu Maru (built 2011). They were renamed Sake and Kitsos.
China-based interests acquired the 300,600-dwt Tsurumi (built 2003) in January, before renaming it Scorpius. The buyer of the 300,000-dwt Toba (built 2004) remains a mystery but some market sources believe Thanassis Martinos-led Eastern Mediterranean picked up the ship, which now trades as the Kioni.
First VLCC buy in two years?
Some brokers mention yet another Greek name, that of Hellenic Tankers, as a possible buyer of the Tsuruga - the latest VLCC that NYK has reportedly sold.
Hellenic Tankers owner Andreas Hadjiyiannis is well known for well-timed, shrewd countercyclical plays. Sources close to the owner, however, dismissed information linking Hellenic Tankers to that particular deal.
An investment into VLCCs now would have been Hadjiyiannis’ first acquisition of such a ship in two years.
In August 2019, clients of Hellenic Tankers bought another Japanese-built tanker, MOL’s 306,400-dwt Oriental Jade (built 2004), which has been renamed Princess Alexia.
In the meantime, Hellenic Tankers offloaded an older ship in February this year for about $24m. The 309,500-dwt VLCC Marion (built 2001) is now the Centuries.
Hadjiyiannis may be flush with liquidity from the booming containership market, if recent reports are accurate that he sold the 5,060-teu S Santiago (built 2006) to Singapore-based OM Maritime for $58m.
If confirmed, the S Santiago deal would be one of the most profitable asset plays in the ongoing business cycle. Clients of Hadjiyiannis-controlled Cyprus Sea Lines (CSL) bought the vessel in 2015 for a mere $17m.
Also in late July, CSL Group was rumoured to have concluded a record-breaking rate of $160,000 per day for a short-term fixture of the 5,042-teu CSL Santa Maria (built 2005).
This article was updated after initial publication to counter reports that Hellenic Tankers may be involved in the Tsuruga deal
