Denmark's Torm has acquired two MR tankers from Cido Shipping at a lower price than a reported deal between the companies last year, which was never finalised.
Brokers said the 46,800-dwt Atlantic Pegasus and Atlantic Queen (both built 2010) have changed hands for about $16.3m each.
Torm, a product tanker owner listed in Copenhagen and on New York's Nasdaq, was reported to have bought the vessels in June last year for $20m each.
Torm recently said it had acquired a pair of 10-year-old tankers but did not respond to requests for comment on the deal; nor did Cido.
The two tankers were initially put up for sale early in 2018, when Hong Kong-based Cido was aiming for $20m for them.
Show of appreciation
In an interview with TradeWinds, Torm's executive director, Jacob Meldgaard, said the recently acquired tankers would be renamed Torm India and Torm Philippines to show appreciation for the company's many Indian and Filipino crew members.
"We thought that this addition would be also a way to respect the hard work that is done during this pandemic," he said.
"In our opinion, the ones in the front line have been the ones most severely impacted, rather than the people in our organisation sitting in offices."
The acquisition itself was just a good opportunity that came up in the market after a fall in asset values this year and was completed at a "clearance price", Meldgaard said.
"These vessels are vintage, they're built in 2010, but have commercial features — and also features in terms of emissions, etc — that we see provide the best sort of balance between high quality and return on the investment," he explained.
The tankers are sister vessels to others in Torm's existing fleet, which means it will be able to technically manage the pair.
"When we look at the economics of it, that they also will get a premium in the market with our customers because of the features that they have, that for us, is a good investment for the future," Meldgaard said.
While Torm specialises in product tankers of various sizes, including more than 50 MR tankers, Cido has a highly diversified fleet.
Its 17 MRs are modern ships that were all built at South Korea's Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and are on average seven years old.
Irene Ang contributed to this article.
