Pyxis Tankers, an Athens-based company listed on the Nasdaq, announced on Tuesday that it has sold two small tankers as it concentrates on operating an MR fleet.
The 8,600-dwt Northsea Alpha and Northsea Beta (both built 2010) fetched an aggregate $8.9m, Pyxis said, without identifying the buyers.
Broking sources in Athens believe the two Yangzhou Kejin Shipyard-built pair has been picked up by Asian interests.
This would be in line with a longstanding market trend in which players from the Middle East and Far East have shown a keen interest in older vessels no longer wanted by Greek owners.
The two ships had been trading in the spot market and Pyxis had long signalled its intention to sell them.
Even though they have been trading with Pyxis since it listed on the Nasdaq in 2015, chief executive Valentios Valentis described them as "non-core assets" on Tuesday.
Non-core play
The transaction "underscores our strategic focus on the eco-MR product tanker sector, reduces outstanding debt and improves balance sheet liquidity", he said.
The sale leaves Pyxis with a fleet of five MR tankers, two of which it purchased between April and November 2021 for $52m in total.
These acquisitions, one of which was from a private affiliate, are a testament to its confidence in a turnaround in the tanker market.
Adverse freight rate conditions caused Pyxis a net loss of $6.9m in the first nine months of 2021, up from a loss of about $500,000 in the same period of 2020.
Pyxis expects the sale of the Northsea Alpha and Northsea Beta to generate aggregate net cash proceeds of about $2.8m, which it will use for working capital purposes.
On the other hand, it will book a non-cash accounting charge of $2m from the sale in its 2021 results.
"Upon completion of the dispositions, our total debt should be approximately $77.35m at a weighted average interest rate of less than 4% per annum, with the next bank loan maturity scheduled in 3.5 years," Valentis said.
