Sole Shipping has emerged as the buyer of two Xihe Holdings LR1 product tankers that were reported sold at the end of May.

The Norwegian lessor is the latest among a large number of shipowners to have tapped the fleet of the failed Singaporean tanker giant for tonnage needs.

Chinese shipbuilders are also finding buyers for the many newbuildings Xihe had on order prior to its collapse.

Another of the company’s small product tankers has been arrested in Singapore and could soon be put up for auction.

Brokers reported the en-bloc sale of Xihe’s 74,000-dwt product tankers Hong Ze Hu and Dong Ting Hu (both built 2007) for $9.65m each in May.

IHS Markit data showed that ownership of the Hong Ze Hu has just passed to Sole.

Renamed Fair Winds, the vessel has been bareboat chartered to Istanbul-based Active Shipping & Management.

The transfer of the Dong Ting Hu had yet to be reflected in shipping databases on Tuesday, but sources familiar with the deal said it will also be chartered to Active.

Sole managing director Jan William Denstad confirmed the purchase of the Hong Ze Hu, but declined to comment on the Dong Ting Hu.

As a lessor, Sole acquires vessels on sale-and-leaseback structures using a bareboat charter agreement model.

The company’s website said it works with “reputable” counterparties, and its mandate covered “all types of vessels with no age restriction”.

The sales leave only LR1s in Xihe’s fleet. The 73,600-dwt Chao Hu (built 2008) is idle off Indonesia, while the 74,000-dwt Tai Hu (built 2007) is trading in the Hafnia fleet.

Newbuilding sales

Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding's orderbook was badly hit after the collapse of Xihe Holdings and affiliated Ocean Tankers in 2020. Photo: ASSC

When Xihe collapsed in 2020, the company, together with affiliated tanker operator Ocean Tankers, had more than 20 newbuildings on order at Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding.

The orders included 34,700-dwt MR product tankers and a variety of smaller chemical and products tankers of between 11,000 dwt and 24,400 dwt.

TradeWinds has previously reported on the sale of two 13,800-dwt chemical tanker newbuildings to a Chinese owner known as ChangShengFa Shipping, and another sold to Hong Lam Marine of Singapore.

Details of the sales of several other Xihe newbuildings have since come to light.

According to IHS and VesselsValue, Greece’s Silk Searoad Maritime bought one of the 34,700-dwt newbuildings, commissioning it in April as Libra II and placing it in Maersk Tankers’ Handytankers pool.

Marvel Lines Enterprises of Greece — a company with links to Smart Tankers — acquired a 24,400-dwt chemical/product tanker newbuilding, putting it in service in March under the name of African Marvel.

Honesty Shipping, a Hong Kong-based owner, bought the last of three 13,800-dwt chemical/product tankers that Xihe was having constructed at China’s Samjin Shipbuilding Industries, placing it in service last December under the name of Sanjin 3025. The vessel is operated by GrandFame Ship Management of Hong Kong.

A more recent transaction saw Singapore-based Dajo Marine buy the 34,700-dwt newbuilding Ocean Lily, which entered service in June under the name of Synergy, with commercial and technical management provided by Maxwell Ship Management.

IHS data indicates that the keels of four of Xihe’s 34,700-dwt tankers have been laid at Fujian Mawei, while eight of the type have been launched, together with one 11,000-dwt chemical/product tanker.

Sources close to the yard said it continues to seek buyers for the MR1 newbuildings, although the smaller tankers, on which work has yet to begin, have been struck off the orderbook.

Auction looming

The future of Xihe's product tanker Ocean Falcon will be determined by the High Court of Singapore. Photo: Smuconlaw/Creative Commons

The High Court of Singapore will determine the future of one of Xihe’s smaller product tankers, the 9,100-dwt Ocean Falcon (built 2007).

Keppel Shipyard arrested the ship at the end of June over an unpaid repair bill totalling SGD 742,000 ($552,000).

While Xihe’s ships are under court protection, the company’s judicial managers have set a previous precedent of allowing an arrest when permission was granted in February for Hamburg Commercial Bank to seize the 108,900-dwt Ocean Pegasus (built 2009) over a $17.5m mortgage claim.

The vessel was auctioned in June, although the result has yet to be announced.

The 298,000-dwt storage tanker Sea Coral (built 1996) is scheduled to be auctioned in Malaysia on 31 July.

More than half of Xihe’s fleet of 140 tankers has been sold, leaving mostly MR2 product tankers and close to 40 small tankers with capacities ranging from 4,000 dwt to 16,500 dwt.