Canada’s Teekay Tankers purchased a modern aframax tanker from Union Maritime, adding youth to its fleet after offloading four older vessels.
Shipping databases by S&P Global and VesselsValue show that the company, a spin-off of Teekay Corp, has purchased the 113,000-dwt Orchid Spirit (built 2021).
This is the new name of the aframax tanker Stirling, which London brokers said was sold by Union Maritime in June.
After this article was published, Teekay confirmed in a Thursday earnings report that it agreed to buy a 2015-built aframax last month and completed the purchase in July with cash.
Teekay may already be in the money in the deal.
VesselsValue estimates the ship’s value has climbed to $74.8m, while Maritime Strategies International’s MSI Horizon puts its worth at $75.6m.
But the S&P data shows that the aframax continues to be under commercial operation of trading giant Trafigura, which began chartering the ship in 2021. Attached charters can impact the price of sale-and-purchase transactions, while valuation estimates are made on a charter-free basis.
The modern aframax has no scrubber, meaning it runs on very-low sulphur fuel oil, but it does have eco engines that improve fuel efficiency.
When it was under UK-based Union Maritime’s control, the ship had been under the ownership of China’s Bank of Communications Financial Leasing as part of a bareboat lease, shipping databases show.
The purchase appears to serve as a fleet renewal move after the Vancouver-based company disposed of the 115,400-dwt Esther Spirit and 115,000-dwt Everest Spirit (both built 2004) in a deal that is believed to have taken place in November.
Teekay said on Wednesday that it has topped up its sales drive for older tonnage by offloading another pair of tankers, a 2005-built aframax vessel and one 2005-built suezmax ship for combined gross proceeds of approximately $64.8m.
According to fleet lists, these can only be the 115,500-dwt Erik Spirit and the 160,000-dwt Seoul Spirit (both built 2005).
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