Maersk Tankers has on behalf of Maersk Product Tankers entered into a deal to sell six new Long-Range 2 (LR2) product tankers in an en-bloc transaction.
The company said that the transaction was in line with Maersk Product Tankers’ asset strategy of continually adjust the fleet size and composition to ‘generate financial returns for investors and keeping exposure in line with market developments.’
Details on the new owner or the value of the deal have not been disclosed.
“The transaction has been made possible due to our team’s vast market insight, expertise and relationships, which we will continue to utilise to pursue further asset opportunities for investors,” says Claus Gronborg , Chief Investment Officer at Maersk Tankers.
One of the vessels is built in 2020 while the remaining five are or will be built in 2021. All vessels are built at Dalian shipyard in China.
Prior to the sale, Maersk Product Tankers had nine LR2 in its newbuilding programme scheduled to deliver over the coming years.
The optimal fleet composition strategy has been the key factor behind Maersk Product Tankers’ record results in 2020.
Specifically, the tanker owner delivered a record net profit of $ 160.7 million for 2020. The results show a major rebound from last year’s $92.4 million net profit despite a major impact of the coronavirus on the tanker market.
Last year, the company completed a series of vessel transactions at attractive prices, including a sale-and-lease-back agreement on nine vessels.
The deals included an agreement with China Development Bank Financial Leasing (CDBL) for the sale of fourteen product tankers for a total of $422 million.
Under the terms of the deal, nine of the vessels will be bareboat chartered back to Maersk Product Tankers. All fourteen vessels will remain under the commercial and technical management of Maersk Tankers.
In total, 20 vessels were sold and two newbuildings entered the fleet in 2020.