Xihe Holdings' judicial manager is said to have offloaded three product tankers as a sell-off of the company's ships continues.
Market sources reported that Grant Thornton, the Singapore shipowner’s judicial manager, has sold the 50,000-dwt MR tankers Bei Jiang and Zhu Jiang (both built 2009), and the LR2 tanker 109,000-dwt Ocean Trader (built 2008).
All of the ships are technically managed by the restructuring shipowning affiliate of Ocean Tankers, which is reportedly running out of cash.
The two MR ships are said to have been sold for a combined $26m. Some reported Coral Shipping as the buyer, but the Greek owner said it did not acquire either of the ships.
An Asia-based sale-and-purchase broker said an unnamed buyer had bought the ships in an en bloc deal for $13m each. However, another broker put the price of the Bei Jiang at $13.5m, while the Zhu Jiang fetched $12.5m.
VesselsValue lists the current value of the Bei Jiang to be $13.7m and Zhu Jiang as $13.2m, while Maritime Strategies International (MSI) estimates the ships are worth about $12.8m.
But one broker said the sales price appears to be cheap, relative to an MR tanker that was sold by Norden in early October.
The Danish company is said to have pocketed $16.3m for the Japanese-built, 48,000-dwt Nord Integrity (built 2010), which was dry-docked in July for special survey. VesselsValue puts the value of the tanker at $15.2m.
Meanwhile, the Ocean Trader was sold to an unnamed buyer for $16.5m, according to VesselsValue.
MSI estimates that the ship — constructed by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding — has a fair market value of $18.1m.
One tanker market source said he is not surprised that Xihe Holdings’ vessels would be sold below recent market levels.
“These are forced sales,” the tanker source said.
Sell-off
Xihe Holdings’ three tankers are being sold as Grant Thornton works to offload several of the shipowner’s vessels.
Elsewhere, John Angelicoussis’ Maran Tankers was recently reported to have paid an en-bloc price of $110m for three Xihe Holdings’ VLCCs: the 318,000-dwt Tai San (built 2009) and Tai Hung San (built 2010), as well as the 319,000-dwt Pu Tuo San (built 2011).
Meanwhile, Clarksons and Arrow Shipbroking, which are acting as joint exclusive brokers for Grant Thornton, are looking for buyers for three Chinese-constructed chemical tankers and one clean LR2 product tanker.
The up-for-sale chemical tankers are the 9,000-dwt Ocean Lark, Ocean Hawk and Ocean Falcon (all built 2007), while the LR2 is the 109,000-dwt Ocean Pegasus (built 2009).
Xihe Holdings is part of Xihe Group, which also includes Xihe Capital and some shipowning offshoots. The group was founded by Lim Oon Kuin, the founder of collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading and Ocean Tankers.
TradeWinds approached Xihe Group and Grant Thornton for comment.
