Socar Overseas and the Foresight Group are said to be about to offload their last big tankers to Greek companies that have not bought such ships in years.
The deals, reported by several brokers in Greece and the US, reaffirm the status of aframaxes as one of the most frequently traded assets in the secondhand market for tankers.
They could also be read as a sign of more buyers entering the market in anticipation of a tanker earnings recovery, which has proved elusive so far.
In the first transaction, United Maritime Logistics (UML), a unit of Azerbaijan's state energy firm Socar, is said to be in the process of selling the 107,500-dwt aframax sisterships Heydar Aliyev and Zarifa Aliyeva (both built 2010) in a $49m en-bloc deal.
Brokers and market sources have said the transaction is still on subjects, with Greece's Seaworld Management & Trading the likely buyer.
Managers and spokespersons at both companies did not respond to a request for comment.
A deal along these lines would be in line with previous patterns by the two companies.
Socar has been moving out of direct tanker ownership, selling three aframaxes and two suezmaxes around the turn of last year. All these ships are now listed with low-profile operators in Greece, Turkey and China.
In another sign that it intends to part with the Heydar Aliyev and Zarifa Aliyeva, Socar has already changed their names. The ships, both built at Tsuneishi Shipbuilding Tadotsu, are currently listed as Gold and Silver, respectively.
Sea World, the vessels' putative buyer, already owns aframaxes very similar to the ones it is reportedly buying now. The Laliotis family-controlled company is listed with five aframaxes, all built at Tsuneishi between 2003 and 2009.
Sea World has not acquired a secondhand tanker for more than three years. However, it ordered two suezmaxes more recently, which are due for delivery next year.
The other Greek company swooping on a pair of aframaxes is Stalwart Management, according to market sources including Athens-based Xclusiv Shipbrokers.
The vessels in question are the 106,100-dwt sisterships Kanpur and Bareilly (both built 2005), which Foresight is said to be selling for $14.5m apiece.
Managers at George Souravlas-controlled Stalwart did not respond to a request for comment.
If the company eventually turns out as the buyer, it would be its first aframax purchase in almost three years and its third overall since January 2018, when the Athens-based company started expanding into aframaxes with Ridgebury Tankers' 105,700-dwt S-Ridgebury Alice M (built 2003).
Foresight also did not respond to a request for comment.
The company, which is a suitor of state-owned Shipping Corp of India that is under privatisation, has announced ambitious plans to expand into VLGCs and VLCCs, several crude and gas carriers in the years to come.
However, it has known to have carried out just one such purchase so far, that of the 80,200-cbm Surya Veerya (ex-Lotus Gas, built 2008).
(This article was updated since original publication to correctly identify the Socar unit in charge of the reported transaction)
