Ridgebury Tankers has bought two suezmax tankers from Diamond S Shipping in the Connecticut owner’s first vessel acquisitions this year.
Market sources told TradeWinds that Ridgebury took the 150,000-dwt Aias and Amoureux (both built 2008) from Connecticut neighbour Diamond, for $22.5m each in an en bloc deal ahead of Christmas.
In an exchange filing, New York-listed Diamond confirmed the sale but did not identify the buyer. The vessels are expected to be delivered by mid-February.
Robert Burke-led Ridgebury is speculated to be embarking on another round of asset play while renewing its fleet.
Brokers said that the company has been one of the most active sellers in the secondhand tanker market this year, shedding crude and product carriers built in the 2000s.
Earlier this month, it reportedly sold the 164,600-dwt Ridgebury Alina L (built 2001) for $13.5m to an unnamed Middle Eastern firm and the 159,000-dwt Ridgebury Pallas (built 2005) to Seven Islands for slightly above $17m.
The company has disposed a total of three VLCCs, two suezmaxes and four MR tankers so far in 2020, according to brokers’ reports and industry databases.
But Ridgebury returned to acquire the Diamond pair after significant drops in secondhand prices. VesselsValue estimates that the value of a 12-year-old suezmax has depreciated by 16% this year.
The scrubber-fitted ships were built by Japan’s Universal Shipbuilding, which merged with IHI Marine United to form Japan Marine United in 2013.
“Prices are quite soft,” said a London-based broker, “I guess their logic is to speculate on an asset which could be right to do asset playing.
“They can resell within the next two to three years when there is a market spike.”
Ridgebury is owned by the company’s management team and private equity firm Riverstone. It declined to comment on the recent deals.
Marinakis-managed ships
The two suezmaxes were previously owned by Evangelos Marinakis-backed Capital Product Partners, whose tanker fleet merged with Diamond last year.
The $1.65bn consolidation, which created one of the world’s largest listed tanker owners, granted Marinakis the management rights to the vessels contributed by Capital Product.
Earlier this year, Marinakis exercised the rights by taking the commercial control of more than 20 Diamond-owned vessels – including the recently sold pair – and publicly criticised Diamond management’s performance.
"They failed to take advantage of the good tanker markets to sell older assets and take time charter coverage, while the commercial performance and overall governance has been disappointing," the Greek owner said in an industry event.
Last month, Diamond chief executive Craig H Stevenson Jr admitted the company’s suezmax fleet was underperforming and said he'd consider deploying some ships to commercial pools.
The suezmax sale is expected to generate about $18m in net proceeds before settlement of working capital. Diamond said it would book a $26m loss for the transaction.
Joe Brady contributed to this article.
