Oslo-listed TIL paid $315m for the vessels to complete the investment phase for the private equity backed company which ran to over $1bn all in.
TIL was set to accept delivery of the vessels during the first half of 2015 when the deal was signed and TradeWinds reported last month the tankers were heading for a July arrival.
Today, TIL told investors the ships will arrive “during the early third quarter”, without offering any reason for the delays.
Suezmax tankers have been enjoying a strong year with spot earnings in 2015 to date at over $45,000 daily when adjusted for slow steaming, Howe Robinson Partners says.
On Friday spot rates sat at $47,391 per day, the broker said in a report, aided by strong activity out of West Africa and the Black Sea.
TIL was formed by Teekay Corp and Teekay Tankers with the aid of private-equity money in 2013 and has since grown its fleet aided by capital raised first on the Oslo over-the-counter (OTC) market and then the main Oslo Stock Exchange. TIL has a fleet of 20 crude tankers.
Teekay chief executive Peter Evensen has said the company has finished growing and will be sold to the highest bidder after its current “harvesting” phase.
Economou has been amassing a large private tanker fleet after opting against a listing of his wet assets earlier this year.
On Friday, TradeWinds reported Economou was ordering a series of aframaxes in China.
At the end of last month, Cardiff declared an option to take six modern aframaxes from Nasdaq-listed DryShips, of which Economou is chairman, president and chief executive.
This deal followed the acquisition of four modern suezmaxes from Dryships in March for $245m.
Clarksons Platou lists Cardiff with a mixed fleet of almost 70 vessels across the bulk, tanker and LNG sectors. It counts 27 tankers in Cardiff’s hands, including newbuildings.
