United Maritime continues to take advantage of the strong tanker market to offload another vessel at a significant profit.
The Nasdaq-listed spinoff of Greek owner Seanergy Maritime is selling the 2008-built LR2 product tanker Minoansea for $39m. The Chinese-built 109,000 dwt vessel will change hands by the end of this year, leaving the company with one more LR2 in addition to the 2005-built capesize bulker.
In July, United snapped up two 2006-built aframaxes and a pair of LR2s for $79.5m. The aframaxes were flipped in October for $62.5m, a premium of about 50% over their acquisition prices.
According to United’s chairman and chief executive, Stamatis Tsantanis (pictured), the gross sale price of the Minoansea, which adds up to a total of $101.5m for the three ships sold, is at a premium of over 100% of the vessel’s acquisition price, while the return on equity is estimated at about 480%.
Since its initial listing six months ago, United Maritime has earned around $38m from the sale of the three tankers, which is 130% of the company’s market cap as of December 19, 2022. The company has declared a special dividend of $1 per share, and following the sales and dividend payment, it estimated its cash equivalents at more than $8.8 per share.