Greek shipowners continue the renewal of their tanker fleet, which started at the beginning of 2022. They have received more than 2.5 billion dollars for old tankers, while they have placed 101 new orders, with a total value of 6.9 billion dollars.
The tanker market has recently recorded a slowdown as the pandemic limited oil consumption globally and lowered demand for tonnage.
However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February changed the picture, as sanctions on Russian oil disrupted the classic transport routes of the “black gold”, increased tonne-miles and freight rates for ships, and peaked demand for used capacity. At the same time, however, it also boosted the shipbuilding industry, since after many years the shipping companies returned to the shipyards for tankers.
According to data by VesselsValue for “Naftemporiki”, from the beginning of 2022 until August 2023, Greek shipowners have sold most of the old tankers in their fleet, and indeed at high prices. In particular, they have sold 61 tankers built before 2010 for over 30 million dollars each.
Second on this list are shipowners from the US, with 10 tankers, followed by Norwegians and Cypriots with eight.
Among the buyers champions are the companies established in the United Arab Emirates, with 42 ships and a total value of 1.67 billion dollars, followed by India with 23 purchases, while 22 are not known where they ended up. China is also very close with 18 purchases, while a total of 10 ships have arrived in Greek hands.
The shipyards
Alongside the sales of older ships, Greek shipowners have also placed 101 orders, worth 6.9 billion dollars. First in preference are the aframaxes, a total of 45, worth 2.74 billion dollars, followed by the suezmaxes, 34, with a total cost of 2.9 billion dollars.
As for super tankers, 4 orders have been placed for VLCCs, for 480 million dollars, eight orders are for panamaxes, for 405 million euros, six handys, for 263 million dollars and four small tankers worth 120 million dollars.
