As tanker earnings improve amid the Ukraine war and sanctions against Russia, secondhand transactions have been gathering steam.
The volume of prospective buyers has increased considerably lately, brokers note.
Concerns that the world might be sliding towards recession are keeping a lid on interest, however, with several analysts observing a gap between the prices potential buyers are offering and sellers are asking.
But little stands in the way of dealmaking when interests overlap.
The 158,900-dwt SKS Skeena (built 2006) is a case in point.
The fully coated LR3 suezmax, built at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, is said to be changing hands for about $23.5m.
This is more than the $22.8m or the $23.1m that VesselsValue and Signal Ocean, respectively, estimate the vessel is worth.
Greece’s Brave Maritime, which ship management sources identify as the buyer, probably considers the markup is worth paying, as the SKS Skeena will not have to pass a special survey before 2026 and comes equipped with a ballast water treatment system.
Keen for deals
The ship’s purported seller, Norway’s SKS Tankers Holding (SKS), has an incentive to enter a deal as well — the LR3 does not seem to fit its overall strategy any longer.
The SKS Skeena was the only SKS vessel left out from a joint venture that the company entered in December with ship financier Hayfin Capital Management.
Bergen-based SKS heaved its entire fleet of 10 LR2 tankers into the new structure. Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Skipsrederi (KGJS), SKS’ parent company, is acting as the venture’s commercial and corporate manager.
KGJS had been selling LR3s even before agreeing on the Hayfin joint venture, offloading three between February and June 2021.
As TradeWinds reported at the time, some observers interpreted the sales as part of a fleet-renewal programme, while others viewed them as a debt-reduction exercise.
Neither SKS nor Brave Maritime immediately responded to a request to comment on the SKS Skeena deal.
Vafias family-led Brave is known to be an opportunistic buyer and seller of bulkers, tankers and gas carriers.
Between the 14 ships it bought for the company in 2021 — five LPG newbuildings, five bulkers and four tankers — the family is estimated to have run up a bill of about $400m.
Its investment in the LR3 sector looks like a rare occurrence. Available data suggests this would be the first such vessel to join the company.
The Vafias family’s confidence in the prospects of the tanker market has been apparent since last year, when its publicly traded company StealthGas decided against offloading its four product tankers in a weak market.
StealthGas, which specialises in LPG carriers, opted instead to spin off these non-core vessels into a separate, new outfit called Imperial Petroleum, which launched on the Nasdaq in early December.
In other moves earlier this year, StealthGas offloaded two small LPG carriers.
The 3,700-cbm Eco Loyalty (renamed Seagas Loyalty, built 2015) has emerged with Intergaz, a Cypriot LPG importer.
The 4,900-cbm Gas Inspiration (renamed Gas Estella, built 2006) has joined Indonesia’s Arcadia Shipping & Trading, reportedly for close to $10m.
