Evangelos Marinakis has teamed up with a small group of major investors in a potential eight-VLCC newbuilding project, TradeWinds has learnt.

Marinakis-backed CVL Corp has secured $40m to $50m from outside investors to press ahead with the counter-cyclical deal at Samsung Heavy Industries, sources indicate.

The Greek shipowner explored listing CVL Corp on Oslo’s Merkur market before Easter, in what would have been the first VLCC company to go public in Norway since 2013.