Greek owner Minerva Marine has moved to cash in on its vintage ice-classed tonnage, selling several older vessels, including ships from one of its favoured tanker segments.

The Athens-based heavyweight is offloading the 20-year-old aframax Minerva Nounou (114,850 dwt), with Chinese buyers reported to be paying in excess of $40m, according to multiple broking reports. The 2006-built tanker was constructed at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, holds ice class 1A notation, and has a history of trading in Russian waters. Its 20-year special survey has already been completed.

Ice class 1A tonnage with Russian trading history has drawn heightened buyer interest since Western sanctions on Russian oil exports reshaped trade flows, with cargoes increasingly moved on older, non-Western-controlled ships serving routes including the Baltic. That has supported values for exactly the kind of ageing, ice-strengthened units Minerva is now selling, even as mainstream owners face tightening rules on fleet age from charterers and regulators.

In addition to the aframax sale, Minerva has reportedly sold the similarly aged MR tanker Minerva Xanthe (50,922 dwt), also to Chinese buyers, for around $16m. The 2006-built product tanker is likewise ice class 1A, as well as IMO II and phenolic-epoxy coated — features that help explain the relatively firm price achieved for a 20-year-old vessel.

Chinese buyers have been among the most active purchasers of secondhand tonnage in recent years, with cash-rich owners in Asia repeatedly outbidding European counterparts for older ships that Western operators are increasingly unwilling to hold.

Minerva Marine, controlled by the Martinos family, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Source: Splash247