By GMM News | 2024-08-26 | International Shipping News |

The sale has been widely expected as Korea Line, part of SM Group, has been reported to be keen to exit the VLCC segment. The Korean-built ships – SM White Whale 1, SM White Whale 2, SM Venus 1, and SM Venus 2 – have been in the shop window for months.

Saudi Arabian shipping giant Bahri has purchased four modern VLCCs from Korea Line Corporation, according to brokers. No price is attached to the deal, but one Greek broker suggested that the four-year-old ships could have fetched about $116m each.

Sales of modern tanker tonnage are rare as prices are at historically high levels.Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter and possesses around 17% of the world’s oil reserves.

According to South Korean media, SM Korea Shipping is in talks with Bahri for the sale of four VLCCs equipped with scrubbers.

The four VLCCS, SM White Whale 1 and SM White Whale 2 with 308,000 DWT and SM Venus 1 and SM Venus 2 with 297,700 DWT, were all built by Hanwha Ocean (formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering) with deliveries in 2019 and 2020.

Because of the scrubbers, SM Korea Shipping is asking for a sale price of at least $120 million each, which means the total price of the four VLCCS would be more than $480 million.

However, the report said Bahri plans to pay $116 million for each VLCC, down from at least $120 million expected by SM Korea Shipping.

In addition to Bahri, Greek tanker operator Okeanis Eco Tankers and Oman Shipping, both under the Alafouzos family, also bid for the VLCCs, but they offered only $110 million, which was not competitive.

According to Greek shipbrokers, the asking price for the four-year-old VLCC was around $116 million.