New Shipping of Greece is sticking to its policy of acquiring tankers between 14 and 17 years old.
The 107,200-dwt Minerva Emma (built 2003), an aframax reported sold to undisclosed buyers last month, has emerged under management of the Adam Polemis-led company with a new name — Paros.
The price paid for the Namura Shipbuilding-constructed vessel is not clear, with several brokers indicating it fetched $13m. However, more recent information from Athens-based brokers and owning sources suggests the price was actually much lower — at $12.2m.
The purchase is almost certainly part of a fleet-renewal move. TradeWinds reported last month that Adam Polemis was seeking to sell an older, similarly-named aframax — the 107,000-dwt New Paros (built 1998) — for scrap.
Fleet-renewal considerations aside, New Shipping’s acquisition of the Minerva Emma is a clear sign that the company feels confident enough to turn the page on a devastating fire that ravaged one of its VLCCs earlier this year.
New Shipping’s 300,000-dwt New Diamond (built 2000) became a total loss after suffering a blaze in early September, while en route in the Indian Ocean with 270,000 tons of crude on board.
The company lost a crew member in the incident but managed to avoid a major environmental disaster. Salvors and a multinational flotilla — led by the Sri Lankan navy — put out the fire, removing the risk of any of its cargo spilling into the sea.
The New Diamond is understood to have been towed to an unconfirmed location since then, possibly Fujairah, where it is to transship its cargo to other tankers for subsequent delivery to its owner — Indian Oil Corp.
Different strategies
The purchase of the Minerva Emma brings New Shipping’s fleet to 24 tankers and 15 bulkers with an average age of about 13 years. That reading conceals a disparity between the company's bulkers, which have an average age of eight years and its tankers, which are 17 years old on average.
New Shipping has been consistent in its policy of buying tankers nearing 20 years of age. In August, the company acquired the 302,500-dwt Otowasan (renamed New Andros, built 2005), reportedly for $26.8m. That was its first VLCC buy in two years.
The Minerva Emma is one of several ageing aframaxes that Martinos family companies Minerva Marine and Eastern Mediterranean have been offloading in recent months.
Minerva's 105,700-dwt Minerva Maya (built 2002) was reported sold to Vietnamese interests in September for about $12m.
That ship has recently emerged with a new name — Pearl I — under the commercial management of India-based Rohi Nautical Services.
