With a time charter equivalent of around the $70,000 per day level on the freight route from the Middle East to China, VLCC secondhand prices are predicted to continue to rise.
Comparing new and old sales, one can see that secondhand prices have jumped by an average of $15m per VLCC since the end of July.
This week sale chatter surrounds a string of ships, including two elderly vessels. Chinese interests are believed to have paid just under $44m for Bahri’s 316,000 dwt Shiblah, a ship built in 2003.
, a ship built in 2003.In a comparable deal from the end of July, UAE-based Max Maritime Solution added its first ship, the one-year younger, Kioni, now renamed Annick, for $29m.
Sales chatter also surrounds the one-year-older, slightly smaller 305,000 dwt Brilliant Jewel. It is listed as belonging to Vitoil, and is noted sold for around $40m.
One can compare this sale with another sale from early June when Japan’s Iino Kaiun Kaisha sold the 301,000 dwt, 2002-built Koho I for $28m. This ship is now named Enola.
The search for elderly targets to move cargoes in the much-altered tanker trading world following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen tanker prices leap for a number of months. 15-year-old VLCCs have increased in relative value by 7% in October alone, according to VesselsValue data.
