Reports of a second vintage VLCC changing hands within days at an exorbitant price provide further evidence of valuations shifting abruptly into higher gear in the sector.
According to Athens brokers, Hellenic Tankers found counterparties willing to spend between $48m and $50m on an 18-year-old ship, the 306,000-dwt Princess Mary (built 2004).
Contacted by TradeWinds, the ship’s managers Hellenic Tankers declined to comment.
Clients of the Andreas Hadjiyiannis-led company had spent just about $22.5m to purchase the ship four years ago, when it was trading under Japanese ownership as Takamine.
The price at which it is believed to be changing hands now is about $10m above estimates by widely used valuation providers.
Based on data as of 30 September, Signal Ocean puts a $37.2m price tag on the Japanese-built ship.
VesselsValue estimates the Princess Mary is worth $38.95m, while Maritime Strategies International projects its value in a range between $33m and $39.7m.
The gap between values estimated by algorithms and reported in actual deals also appeared in the case of the 320,800-dwt Maran Aquarius (built 2005) — a ship rumoured sold to Chinese interests late last week for between $52m and $53m.
Such premiums cannot be explained by technical characteristics alone — for example, that the Maran Aquarius is equipped with a scrubber and that the Princess Mary recently passed its special survey.
Some analysts point instead to a multi-tier market that has developed after Western sanctions on the export of Russian crude.
Investors unencumbered by sanctions or political considerations are said to be seeking ships to carry Russian crude to places that have not taken any punitive measures against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Cool flippings
Tanker buyers are frequently, although not exclusively, based in just such countries — mainly the United Arab Emirates and China.
Teodor Shipping, a little-known entity in the UAE, is identified by some Greek brokers as the buyer of three tankers this week.
One of them is the 105,600-dwt LR2 Keros Voyager (built 2008), which is said to have changed hands for about $35m.
A sale at these levels would yield a 92% profit for Chemnav Shipmanagement, which bought the ship for about $18.3m in February — just before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Managers at Chemnav did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Athens brokers are linking Teodor Shipping to a deal for two MR sisterships as well.
The 46,600-dwt Energy Progress and Energy Puma (both built 2008) are said to be changing hands for between $19.5m and $20m each.
Both vessels are currently in the managed fleet of Victor Restis-controlled Golden Energy Management.
Their owner, however, is understood to be China’s Minsheng Financial Leasing, which bought them three years ago in Golden Energy’s first-ever sale-and-leaseback deal.
Chinese financial owners were probably also involved in the sale of another Golden Energy tanker last month — the 70,700-dwt Golden Energy (built 2005), which is now trading as Blue Nil with UAE-based K B H Petroleum.
Asian buyers are also behind the sale of another Greek-held product tanker.
Product Shipping & Trading, the private outfit of Greek owner Petros Pappas, has agreed to offload the 50,900-dwt Northern Ocean (built 2005) for about $19.5m.
Thenamaris, another major Greek owner that often trades vessels in decade-long cycles, has been rewarded for its patience once again.
The Nikolas Martinos-led company reportedly sold the 105,900-dwt Seagrace (built 2004) to Chinese interests for $23.5m.
That is more ― in nominal terms ― than the $19.5m Thenamaris spent to buy the ship in 2013. All the vessel’s trading profits over that period are probably now going down in the company’s books as pure gain.
Greeks, however, are not the only players selling.
Lila Global, the independent trading fleet arm of cash buyer Global Maritime Systems, is said to have struck a lucrative sale for yet another tanker.
According to market sources, the company has agreed after several weeks of talks to part ways with the 159,100-dwt Lila Guangzhou (built 2004) for $23.5m.
That represents a $7m profit on a ship that Lila Global acquired barely seven months ago.
Dubai-based company Lila Global notched up a gain of about $10m with the sale of an aframax recently — the 113,800-dwt Lila Fujairah (built 2007).
