Greek shipowner Brave Maritime has doubled its product tanker newbuilding orderbook at the same time as banking a handsome profit from a fresh asset play in the crude market.
The Vafias family company has signed up for two extra MR product tankers at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, TradeWinds is told.
Brave first booked a brace of 50,000-dwt tankers at the South Korean yard this summer and the latest vessels expand the series to four.
Sources suggest a price in the region of $52.5m has been paid for each of the two latest tankers, with delivery slated for the first quarter of 2027.
Brokers note that while newbuilding prices have been rising, Brave has ordered at a time when values are not expected to retreat any time soon.
While the series marks the first product tankers ordered by the Vafias family at HMD, the shipowner has a long history with the yard.
The latest ships mark the 14th and 15th vessels HMD will build for Vafias, with previous deals spanning the LPG and crude tanker segments.
Sources say Brave is likely to seek spot employment for the product tanker newbuilding quartet.
While Vafias companies traditionally have high contract coverage in the LPG space with public vehicle StealthGas, it typically focuses on spot business in the tanker and bulker arenas.
Product tanker newbuilding activity has been running at near record levels in 2024, with deal flow at the highest level in almost two decades.
Data from Bimco counted 194 product tankers larger than 10,000 dwt contracted with a combined capacity of 13.3m dwt, in the first seven months of the year. This is the most seen since 2006.
The Vafias family has been a major player in the sale-and-purchase market during the past couple of years.
Its latest deal involves the 113,000-dwt Emerald I (ex-Capricon Voyager, built 2007), which sources say is changing hands for $38.5m.
This marks a huge 250% profit for Vafias, who bought the Samsung-built tanker in 2021 for just $16m from Mitsui OSK Lines before trading income is factored into the equation.
The ship was managed by Chevron at the time of the purchase.
Following the latest order at HMD, the Vafias family has bought close to 30 ships in the past two-and-a-half years, in deals spanning the newbuilding and secondhand markets.
Its activity has been spread across multiple sectors, with eight capesizes, five supramaxes, four handysizes and one post-panamax added in the dry cargo space.
On the tanker side, the family’s acquisitions have spanned the product, suezmax and aframax arenas.
