Greek owner has 8m-barrel ships on order at DH Shipbuilding in South Korea
The sale-and-purchase rumour mill is abuzz with talk of another potentially hugely lucrative resale deal involving Greece’s Atlas Maritime.
European broking sources have linked the Leon Patitsas-led owner to the disposal of the first four of eight suezmaxes — which can each carry 8m barrels of oil — it has on order at DH Shipbuilding in South Korea.
The 157,000-dwt Geneva Star, Lausanne Star, North Star and Viking Star are said to be fetching $96m each, but deals have not been confirmed.
Brokers talked up Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group as a potential buyer, as its shipowning arm Noatum Maritime already has a relationship following a resale deal for two Atlas car carriers earlier in April.
But TradeWinds understands the company is not the buyer.
Teekay Tankers was also mentioned as a buyer, but this also appears to be wide of the mark.
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All three companies have been contacted for comment, as has Atlas’ finance partner European Maritime Finance (EMF), which said it does not comment on “broker speculation in the market”.
One broker said $96m would be a “massive price” if correct.
Brokers quote suezmax newbuildings at $88m.
A higher price would mean an owner keen to have the LNG dual-fuel ready ships joining its fleet promptly.
VesselsValue assesses the Atlas quartet at prices ranging from $89m to $91m.
The tankers were ordered for a reported $84m each.
They are due to be handed over in consecutive months from October this year.
Atlas has four more such tankers on order at DH for delivery in 2026 and 2027, as well as two LR2 tankers due in May.
Three VLGC-sized ammonia/LPG ships are coming from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2027.
Atlas has three aframax/LRs in operation, two of which were delivered earlier this year.
All were built at DH Shipbuilding.
TradeWinds reported in April that long-term partners Atlas and EMF achieved a profit of at least $30m on each of two car carriers sold to Noatum.
EMF founder Martin Haugaard confirmed that the 7,000-ceu Electric Star and Green Star (both built 2025) were ordered at $84.3m each and sold for more than $115m.
He said: “We are not disclosing the exact sales price, but investor returns are approaching mid-double-digit levels, which we consider very acceptable given the timing of the orders placed back in March 2022 through Clarksons in Oslo.”
The deals were in line with the standard policy established by the traditional Greek owner.
“When the market peaks, we have the discipline to sell,” Patitsas told TradeWinds in a previous interview.
“We’re not here just to keep assets forever and scrap them — we’re here to be opportunistic and take advantage of rising markets,” the grandson of legendary player Leon Lemos added.
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