Fredriksen’s flagship company has already snapped upover $8m worth of its own shares as part of an initiative which could see 49.82m shares repurchased.

So far Frontline 2012 has bought 1.13million shares at an average of $7.85 per share, its quarterly report said.  

“We see this as a strong move by Frontline 2012 tounderline its view of where the cheapest vessels can be bought; it is their owntonnage,” said Erik Nikolai Stavseth of Arctic Securities.