Ridgebury Tankers has been linked to another vessel sale in a deal that could see the US shipowner nearly double what it paid for a 15-year-old suezmax.
Brokers in the US, Hong Kong and Greece all said that the company has sold the 150,000-dwt Ridgebury Judith (built 2008) at a price of $40m. The buyer was not disclosed.
If the tanker ultimately sells for that price, it would represent a 78% gain over the $22.5m that the shipowner paid for the vessel in late 2020, even though brokers said the tanker is due for a special survey.
However, Ridgebury chief executive Bob Burke told TradeWinds that the tanker “is not sold”.
A deal for the vessel would represent the second reported vessel sale by the Connecticut tanker owner so far this year after the company sold the 50,200-dwt Katherine Z (built 2009), and the 19th since the beginning of 2022 as the outfit has worked to unwind investments by multiple clients.
And it would leave Ridgebury with just seven tankers in its fleet.
As TradeWinds has reported, the company had previously been backed by private equity’s Riverstone Holdings but evolved into a platform managing separate vehicles for multiple investors including the private equity firm.
Reports of the Ridgebury Judith sale come as older suezmaxes are riding a wave of rising secondhand values.
VesselsValue estimates the suezmax, which was constructed at Japan’s Universal Shipbuilding and is outfitted with a scrubber, is worth $40.6m on an open-market basis today, up from just $22.8m this time last year.
The reported sale price is in line with Euronav’s recent deal to unload the 159,000-dwt Cap Charles (built 2006) for $41.5m. Euronav announced the sale on Tuesday.
The South Korean-built suezmax, which has been renamed Mercury, is older and has no scrubber but is larger and does not face a special survey deadline until September 2026.
Also reportedly cashing in on suezmax tonnage is Norway’s Frontline.
TradeWinds has reported that brokers said the John Fredriksen-basked company sold the 156,000-dwt scrubber-fitted Front Balder (built 2009) for $39.4m.
Experts see suezmax prices benefiting from the continued fallout from the war in Ukraine, which has helped lift rates and lengthen tonne-miles as sanctions on Russia forces tankers to take longer journeys.
But Evercore ISI analyst Jonathan Chappell said on Monday that they would be in a good position even without the conflict, thanks to an orderbook that represents just 3.2% of the on-the-water fleet.
The investment bank’s $51.5m estimate of the value of a 10-year-old suezmax is higher than the estimated price tag for a vessel of that vintage for all the years between 2014 and 2022.
Suezmax tanker specialist Nordic American Tankers pointed out on Monday that just 14 of the ships are on order.
“The supply of suezmax tankers will remain at historic low levels for at least the next two or three years,” the New York-listed shipowner said.
