Performance Shipping has locked in a profit from the sale of an aframax tanker as prices hold onto the value gains seen since Russia invaded Ukraine.
The New York-listed tanker owner, part of the Palios family’s stable of public shipping companies, said it sold the 116,000-dwt P Kikuma (built 2007) for $39.3m.
That is well above the $26m that the company paid in a 2020 deal for the vessel, which was constructed at South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries. The ship has no scrubber unit, meaning that it must use costlier low-sulphur fuel.
Athens-based Performance said it will log a $17.3m gain, excluding commissions and other transaction costs, in its fourth-quarter earnings.
The deal comes as vessels of the P Kikuma’s characteristics have seen their estimated values rebound modestly in recent weeks as they continue to benefit from elevated prices since the February 2022 invasion shook up tanker trades and propped up older aframaxes.
VesselsValue estimates that a ship of the P Kikuma’s specifications is worth $37.7m, down from a peak of $42.6m in July but still well above the estimated price of just $19.1m in November 2020.
Data from Clarksons shows greater resilience, with the $38m price for a 15-year-old aframax standing at $38m as of Friday, which is slightly above the $37.5m price tag in early October and slightly below the $38.5m value in July.
Performance identified the buyer of the P Kikuma only as an unaffiliated third party.
The tanker, which is currently operated in the Penfield Aframax Pool, will be delivered to the buyer in December.
