Secondhand VLCCs may have found their ceiling.
Amid rising prices and dwindling inventory, brokers are reporting SK Shipping’s 313,000-dwt C. Prosperity (built 2009) is on the trading block and under negotiation for just above $50m.
This would mark a significant discount from the last valuations for a 15-year-old VLCC.
“Crude oil tankers seem to have hit a price ceiling for the time being, as the few transactions and negotiations reported seem to indicate slightly weaker prices than before,” Cleaves Shipbrokers said.
In discussing the C. Prosperity negotiations, the Norwegian ship noted “earlier this year, same-age Chinese-built ships without scrubbers sold for $53.5m”.
SK Shipping has been approached for comment.
The ship has been in the Seoul-based company’s fleet since delivery from Hyundai Heavy Industries Ulsan. It has a scrubber installed but is not eco-designed.
VesselsValue pegs the C.Prosperity as worth $59.4m, while MSI Horizon gives a range from $56.9m to $64.9m.
Generally, VesselsValue estimates a 310,000-dwt, 15-year-old VLCC as worth $57.5m, while Clarksons gives a $58m valuation.
Recent sales of similar-aged ships suggest values may be moderating.
In April, Euronav sold a trio of VLCCs, one built in 2009 and two in 2008, to Sinokor for $53.5m, $51.7m and $49.7m.
The C.Prosperity sale follows reports earlier this month that the tanker sale-and-purchase market had slowed to a crawl, with asset values strengthening nearly across the board and owners content to rake in cash from strong freight rates.
The market got so slow that Fearnleys at one point had no tanker deals to report.
It said slow going would be the “new norm in the sector”.
