Gulf Marine Management, an Athens-based tanker company fronted by wealthy Lebanese businessman Ghassan Ghandour, is being tipped as the company behind a pair of bargain VLCC resales.
Jinhai hulls J0282 and J0283, due out of the Chinese yard next year, have already had rather exceptional lives, even though they have yet to deliver.
Splash understands they were originally ordered by John Fredriksen’s Frontline. When Fredriksen cancelled a host of VLCC orders at Jinhai, GC Tankers, a shipowning vehicle controlled by Jinhai Heavy’s parent, HNA, took them on. Last December, Greece’s Marmaras Navigation came close to taking the pair. Splash understands that now Gulf Marine has bagged the two ships for just $73m each. They are scheduled to deliver in July and August next year. Gulf Marine has just one existing VLCC in its fleet.
At $73m per unit, brokers suggest Jinhai-built VLCCs are massively discounted compared to China’s top yards, who would demand at least another $3m for a similar tanker.
5% is hardly a ‘massive’ discount for these monsters…