Weco Tankers has reportedly chartered an MR tanker jointly owned by Gunvor and Top Ships amid a quiet period charter market for product tankers.
Brokers said the Danish operator has taken the 50,000-dwt Eco Joshua Park (built 2020), which is fitted with scrubbers, for $17,250 per day on a six-month charter, which can be extended by a further six months at $19,250 per day.
The vessel was scheduled to be delivered in the Mediterranean this month.
Weco confirmed the charter but declined to comment on the rate and period length.
The deal comes as Braemar ACM said there “could be a glimmer of positivity” in rates in what has been an otherwise lacklustre period charter market for product tankers.
That said, Clearlake Shipping — the Gunvor subsidiary that relet the vessel to Weco — might not necessarily profit from the deal.
In April, Gunvor and Top Ships each acquired 50% in the Eco Joshua Park from a company affiliated with Top Ships chief executive Evangelos Pistiolis.
Delivered from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in March, the ship was fixed by the joint venture to Clearlake at $17,400 per day on a five-year charter.
Among other recent fixtures, ExxonMobil is said to have chartered the 47,200-dwt NS Stella (built 2005) and 46,900-dwt NS Stream (built 2006) from Novoship for up to one year at $14,250 per day.
The two ice-class ships are not fitted with scrubbers.
ExxonMobil and Sovcomflot, the parent of Novoship, both declined to comment on the deals.
Total's LR fixtures
Brokers also reported that Total fixed two LR2s for short charters last week at rate levels similar to spot earnings.
Arab Maritime Petroleum Transport’s 112,500-dwt Alburaq (built 2008) was chartered for 60 days at $34,500 per day and European Navigation’s 94,100-dwt Elka Vassiliki (built 2004) for storage of 30 to 120 days at $31,500 per day.
Total declined to comment on the charters. The shipowners have been approached for comment.
The period market experienced a chartering spree in April and early May, with oil majors and traders rushing to fix vessels for floating storage use due to contango play or for logistics reasons.
But the market has cooled down since then, with easing oil oversupply, and brokers do not expect activity to pick up again with the product tanker trade entering the summer lull.
“It will stay like this for a while,” one broker said. “I cannot see anything exciting happening.”
