Tanker sale and purchase activity subdued as newbuild orders tumble
TANKER sale and purchase deals remain low, with just three sales reported by shipbrokers in the past week, as shipowners continue to benefit from historically strong earnings.
The three sales comprised the 2017-built, medium-range sister vessels CL Fugou (IMO: 9732931) and CL Huaiyang (IMO: 9732929) that were sold by Synergy Group for $30.8m each. The 50,000 dwt ships are said to have been purchased by two different buyers.
The only other reported tanker sale in the past week was the 19,998 dwt chemical tanker Ginga Hawk (IMO: 9222651). This 2000-built ship was sold by Japan’s Meiji Shipping Group to undisclosed buyers for $6.9m.
Xclusiv Shipbrokers’ analyst Dimitris Roumeliotis said that strong tanker markets meant fewer shipowners were interested in selling their assets, which was limiting the number of sales transactions.
“Freight rates, particularly in the crude segment, continue to support asset pricing with aframax, suezmax and VLCC time charter earnings for the 2022-2025 period averaging well above the corresponding averages for 2018-2021,” Roumeliotis said.
“At the same time, operating expenses have risen only marginally over the past decade, preserving margins. As a result, owners have enjoyed robust earnings since 2022 and are in no rush to divest.”
He told Lloyd’s List that many shipowners had used strong cashflows to repay loans, further improving their balance sheets and financial resilience.
“A combination of high earnings, low pressure to deleverage and continued market optimism is underpinning ongoing strength in tanker asset values, particularly at the larger end of the segments,” said Roumeliotis.
Tanker values have remained firm since January with prices of secondhand VLCCs showing a modest uptick in the past month, because of a combination of strong market fundamentals and the limited selling pressure from owners.
Xclusiv Shipbrokers’ data confirms 173 tanker sale and purchase transactions were concluded in the first five months of 2025, down by around 30% year on year.
The medium-range segment accounted for the largest share at 25%. This was followed by the aframax/long range two segment and VLCCs, with a share of 18% and 16% respectively. The suezmax segment accounted for 12% of all sale and purchase deals concluded since January.
Roumeliotis noted that clear patterns had emerged since January in terms of vessel size segments and age preferences.
“Older ships are dominating activity with vessels of between 16 years and 20 years of age representing 45% of total transactions in the first five months of the year,” he said.
Ships of between 21 years and 25 years provided 15% of sales transactions since January.
“A strong appetite for vintage tonnage likely reflects the continued pull of the sanctioned Russian oil trade, where older ships operating under less scrutiny remain in high demand,” said Roumeliotis.
“It also suggests that asset buyers are still capitalising on short to medium-term trading opportunities, rather than pursuing long-term fleet renewal strategies.”
Meanwhile, orders for new tankers have dropped considerably in 2025.
Since January, just 87 tanker newbuildings have been contracted, compared with 230 recorded in the first five months of 2024 and 129 contracted in the same period in 2023.
Recent ordering activity appears to be focused on large crude tankers and coated aframax tankers.
South Korea’s HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) reported today it had won a shipbuilding contract from an undisclosed Asia-based owner for two VLCCs. The contract is valued at a total $254m with the order understood to have been placed by South Korea’s Pan Ocean Shipping.
Other newbuilding contracts confirmed as having been signed of late included six long range two ships ordered from China’s Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard.
The 115,000 dwt ships are said to have been ordered by Greek shipowner Polembros Shipping, while there is an option for the order to be extended by a further two ships.
Roumeliotis confirmed that newbuilding ordering activity in 2025 has started at a noticeably slower pace compared to recent years, while the tanker orderbook has reached its highest level in 15 years.
“Despite a slowdown in tanker orders in 2025 it is important to note the current tanker orderbook stands at 1,213 vessels. This is its highest since 2010 and represents 15.7% of the active fleet in service,” added Roumeliotis.
Slowing ordering activity may also be attributed to lingering uncertainty around proposed US Trade Representative port call fees, while relatively high newbuilding pricing is also thought to have tempered ordering activity.
Now there is greater clarity regarding the implementation and scope of USTR measures, Roumeliotis said he expects ordering activity to pick up pace, especially since shipowners need to focus on renewing an ageing vessel fleet.
By 2029 some 55% of the tanker fleet will be older than 16 years, a threshold that raises operational and commercial challenges, particularly in an increasingly regulated and environmentally sensitive market.
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