Top Greek owner Thenamaris has added a VLCC to the score of ageing tankers it has divested since March last year.
The market-savvy outfit has again beaten price expectations, with brokers in the US and Greece reporting it has offloaded the 306,500-dwt Seahero (built 2006) for $56m.
Thenamaris managers declined to comment on the reports, citing its corporate policy to not discuss commercial transactions.
A $56m price tag would exceed estimates by online analytics platforms on how much the ship is worth. Signal Ocean puts its value at $55.5m and VesselsValue at $54.6m.
MSI Horizon, which calculates an average fair market value over the ongoing quarter, puts an estimate of $44m to $51.8m on the ship.
The vessel’s $56m price tag also looks good against last-done comparisons.
In early December, TradeWinds reported Thenamaris as selling the 318,700-dwt Seaking (built 2005), another VLCC of a similar age that was built in South Korea, at a much lower $51.8m.
The Seahero has a lot going for it to justify an elevated price.
Just like 10 of Thenamaris’ 11 VLCCs, it is equipped with a scrubber, which allows the ship to comply with low-sulphur emission regulations while operating on cheaper high-sulphur fuel.
Furthermore, the Seahero passed its special survey early last year.
This means it will not have to incur that expense, which is particularly high for VLCCs, until 2026.
These characteristics come on top of already sky-high secondhand prices for tankers in the wake of the Ukraine war.
The redrawing of trade patterns after the conflict broke out in February 2022 has revived the tanker market and led to a buying frenzy. Much of that has been driven by new entities based in Asian jurisdictions unencumbered by Western sanctions against Russia.
This has allowed plenty of traditional Western owners to offload some of their oldest ships to take home profits or build financial war chests to fund fleet renewal through newbuildings.
Several Greek companies have grasped the opportunity, with Thenamaris second to none.
Since March 2022, the Nikolas Martinos-led company is confirmed to have offloaded 15 ageing tankers for total proceeds — based on TradeWinds’ analysis of broker reports — of $300m.
Adding the as-yet unconfirmed sales of the VLCCs Seaking and Seahero would boost Thenamaris’ ship sales to 17, and ship sale proceeds to more than $400m.
The company’s 15 confirmed sales concern MRs, aframaxes and a suezmax built between 2002 and 2007.
Six of these vessels have since emerged under Indian management and four under Chinese.
The single biggest buyer of Thenamaris ships has been clients of Mumbai-based Gatik Ship Management — an entity that has raised attention by assembling a fleet of at least 30 tankers from scratch since last year.
US-based brokers, however, suggest that Thenamaris’ latest sale, the Seahero, was instead picked up by interests based in the United Arab Emirates.
Troubled VLCC auctioned
Gatik is not the only busy tanker buyer out of India.
In a transaction that seems to have been carried out at least two months ago, a trio of VLCCs previously with Oman Shipping have now emerged under the management of little-known Torino Ship Management.
According to S&P Global Market data, the 320,000-dwt Marbat and Manah (both built 2008), as well as the 319,900-dwt Mazyonah (built 2009), are now trading with India-based Torino as Fiona, Ayden and Lydia II, respectively.
The three ships’ registered owners are Seychelles-based entities.
A more recent VLCC deal concerns the 299,200-dwt Arzoyi (built 2002), which Greek brokers report as sold in an auction in China.
The circumstances under which the Arzoyi would end up for auction are not immediately clear. Signal Ocean’s vessel tracker features the ship as under repairs in Qingdao for almost a year now.
The Arzoyi was previously linked to a Middle Eastern player whose name was mentioned in connection with the unusual case of another VLCC that allegedly took on the identity of a scrapped ship to covertly carry out a US-sanctioned oil trade.
The Arzoyi’s new owners are said to be Chinese and to have spent just $26.7m to buy the vessel.
