VLCC Sales Surge as Asian Buyers Target Older Tonnage

The wet secondhand market has seen a surge of activity this week, marked by several VLCC transactions.

Malaysia’s MISC, through its tanker subsidiary AET, has sold two Universal-built vessels — the Bunga Kasturi Lima (2007, 300,246 dwt) and the Bunga Kasturi Enam (2008, 299,319 dwt) — to Chinese buyers for a combined price of about $88 million. One of the ships is scheduled for drydocking. Both vessels have already been renamed, with the former now trading as Diva and the latter as Evan, each under distinct single-purpose entities.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Sinokor Maritime has disposed of another aging VLCC, the Monaco Loyalty (2007, 307,000 dwt), built at Dalian Shipbuilding. The ship is reported to have changed hands for a price in the low $40 million range. This follows a recent deal from the same yard, where Greece’s Thenamaris sold the 2009-built Searacer for $48 million.

Despite the wave of VLCC transactions, brokers emphasize that crude tanker values remain steady, with pricing largely consistent with recent sales of similar vintage units. The trend reflects Asia’s ongoing appetite for older VLCC tonnage.