There is no surer sign of a robust shipping market than shipowners squeezing fat profits out of vessels that would normally be expected to be heading towards retirement.
LPG carriers are providing such an example, with Greece’s Naftomar doubling its money on a 26-year-old ship.
In June 2018, when LPG carriers were earning some of the lowest earnings in recent history, the Athens-based company spent about $16m to buy the 79,500-cbm Fountain River (built 1997) before renaming it Gaz Liberty.
