The New York-listed company, whichtrades under the ticker DHT, shed light on the acquisition in itsfourth-quarter earnings report.

On Wednesday evening the operatorindicated it purchased two vessels that were built in 2006 and 2007 but failedto identify the ships by name.

DHT noted the acquisition of thetankers, which are due for delivery next month, will be funded by a combinationof what it described as “conventional mortgage financing and “an acquisitionfacility”.

“DHTconsiders this an attractive addition to its fleet and will continue to pursueinvestment opportunities and grow the company,” it added in reference to a dealthat follows a recent series of newbuilding orders.

Accordingto Compass Maritime Services, a US brokerage that speciliases insale-and-purchase, five and ten-year-old VLCCs are currently fetching $61m and$41m on average, respectively, in today’s secondhand market.

Whileindustry researchers are yet to weigh in on the dealmany will likely applaud DHT’s latest transaction since acquisition candidatesare becoming increasingly hard to come by due to rising freight rates and a subsequentspike in asset values.