A pair of tanker sales are showing how resilient asset values have been this year despite low activity.
Performance Shipping last week agreed to sell the 116,000-dwt aframax P Kikuma (built 2007) for $39.3m with the New York-listed, Athens-based outfit pocketing a $17.3m profit after owning the ship for just 33 months.
That was nearly the same price European Maritime Finance got for a sister ship, the 116,000-dwt Kira K (ex-name Dakota Strength, built 2007), in May, Cleaves sale-and-purchase broker Einar Straume said.
“Activity in the tanker sales market appeared rather muted this week,” he said in the Cleaves Securities weekly note. “Prices, however, are well maintained.”
Straume added that the 51,000-dwt Seaways Lorain (built 2008) sold for $24.5m, a deal he said was in line with previous transactions and VesselsValue said was slightly higher than its $23.7m estimate.
It is unknown who the buyer is.
Performance did not disclose a buyer and Clarksons describes the buyer as “undisclosed”.
The Kira K appears controlled by Seychelles-registered Eastern Shipping Inc, while Clarksons has the ultimate beneficial owner as Marshall Islands-registered Shunyuan Shipmanagement.
Market observers expected asset values to remain high despite a strong market, as there are few newbuilding slots to go around and less desire to order as incoming emissions regulations make choosing a propulsion system difficult.
Further, the S&P market was widely thought to have received a shot in the arm from less scrupulous buyers snapping up older tonnage for the so-called “dark fleet” to carry Russian crude, products and other sanctioned trades.
According to Clarksons’ data, the tanker S&P market is behind last year’s pace, with 533 sold through 17 November versus 695 for all of last year.
Total dwt also trails considerably, with 65.5m moved in 2022 versus 52.2m so far in 2023.
However, the total value of ships sold in 2023 has already eclipsed last year, with nearly $18bn in 2023 versus $17.7bn in all of 2022.
Clarksons has just six tankers sold in November, not including two en-bloc sales for Seacon Shipping’s 17,000-dwt Enford and Kendrick (both built 2012) at $14m each on a leaseback deal and the eight-vessel deal between Torm and SKS Tankers.
The transaction saw Torm pay $399m for eight of SKS Tankers’ 10 LR2s, bringing the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Skipsrederi-backed outfit to just two tankers as the Norwegian company pivots to dry bulk.
