China’s Kunlun Shipping and its Hong Kong affiliate Kunlun Holdings looked set for a promising future when first formed in 2013 with the purchase of a VLGC.

Believed to be backed by an oil trader, the outfit began to steadily grow its fleet with secondhand VLGCs and VLCCs.

A spurt of buying activity, which began in November 2018 and lasted until the early part of this year, saw Kunlun linked to six large-tanker purchases.