Tanker player diversifies into fossil-free fuel transport economy with first newbuilding — and potentially more to follow
Traditional Greek owner Atlas Maritime is pouring liquidity from a string of successful tanker sales into forward-looking technologies and transport modes.
According to shipping market sources, the Athens and London-based company has inked a 7,000-ceu pure car/truck carrier (PCTC) newbuilding at China’s CIMC Raffles Offshore Engineering.
The LNG dual-fuel ship is scheduled for delivery in September 2024.
Leon Patitsas-led Atlas is also said to be holding options for multiple newbuildings, which it may start exercising later this year.
The price for the single firm newbuilding is said to be about $85m.
These are not the only PCTC ships that CIMC Raffles has secured lately. Shipbuilding sources said that Zodiac Maritime has exercised options for two more such units, bringing the total it has under construction at the yard to six.
Atlas to date has focused on managing and owning tankers. Its decision to expand into car carriers is believed to be motivated by a desire to diversify outside the fossil-fuel sector.
Atlas expects to employ its PCTCs in the growing electric vehicle trade between China, where they are manufactured, and the consumer markets of Europe and the US.
Atlas’ newbuildings have strengthened cargo tanks. This will allow them to carry electric vehicles, which are usually about 40% heavier than conventional ones because of their batteries.
Chinese carmakers are stepping up efforts to further expand their export volume and global presence.
Electric carmaker Tesla is said to have plans to build a new plant in Shanghai that is expected to produce up to 1m cars per year. Tesla is, furthermore, expanding its existing production base to meet growing demand for export.
Companies ordering PCTC newbuildings are betting that the existing car-carrier fleet is old and that the future orderbook is still low.
Clarksons Platou Securities believes between 100 and 200 new car carriers will be needed from 2024 up to 2030 to meet demand growth and compensate for attrition due to age and new regulations.
Profiting from tankers
Part of the liquidity Atlas has used to finance its foray into car carriers comes from the company’s remarkably successful dealmaking with conventional tankers.
TradeWinds reported in April how Atlas made more than $30m in profit by reselling its 115,100-dwt newbuildings Philadelphia Star and New York Star (both built 2022) to General National Maritime Transport Co, commonly known as GNMTC.
The ships were ordered for between $45m and $46m each — the lowest price for such vessels in two decades — and they have now been sold for about $61m apiece.
Atlas is believed to have made another successful sale in late May by agreeing to sell the 105,500-dwt aframax Mitera Marigo (built 2007) for $25.8m.
Some brokers report that the ship’s buyers are based in Singapore.
This is a remarkably high price compared with last-done deals, which underscores an earnings revival in the tanker sector.
On the other hand, the high price also reflects that the Mitera Marigo is a Japanese-built vessel that passed its special survey recently.
