Pantheon Tankers has taken a further step in a sweeping fleet renewal process that saw the company buy, sell and order multiple vessels in recent years.
According to ship management sources and brokers in Athens and the US, the Anna Angelicoussis-controlled company sold its two oldest ships, the 159,100-dwt suezmaxes Astro Polaris and Astro Phoenix (both built 2004) for $43m en bloc.
The ships have already been delivered to their new owners, which are believed to be Chinese.
Pantheon managers declined to comment, in line with company policy to not discuss commercial issues.
A sale, however, would be in line with a string of disposals in a wholesale fleet renewal pursued by Pantheon over the last few years.
According to TradeWinds data and estimates, Pantheon sold nine tankers on the secondhand market since 2018, raising about $200m in the process — four VLCCs, three suezmaxes and two aframaxes built between 2001 and 2004.
These sales, which include the Astro Polaris and Astro Phoenix, leave Pantheon with a 15-year-old ship as its oldest vessel — the 110,300-dwt Sea Falcon (buit 2007).
The largest part of Pantheon’s current fleet of 32 ships consists of very modern vessels, following a wide-ranging newbuilding programme that saw the company order and take delivery of 21 newbuildings since 2016.
The last piece in this newbuilding programme is the 156,500-dwt suezmax Sea Sapphire (built 2022), which the company is due to take delivery shortly from New Times Shipbuilding.
Such new vessels fetch superior prices in the currently reviving tanker market. Pantheon’s scrubber-fitted 156,300-dwt suezmax Sea Onyx (built 2022) is reportedly earning $30,000 per day in a three-year charter with Vitol.
Pantheon has been growing with secondhand acquisitions as well.
Its 32 ships are likely to grow to 40 soon, after delivery of eight product tankers that the company is believed to have bought from BP Tankers.
Pantheon is also affiliated with Alpha Gas, a company which owns five LNG gas carriers and was in talks to buy three further resale vessels originally ordered by Sovcomflot, as TradeWinds reported.
