Atlas Maritime of Greece and Danish shipping investment firm European Maritime Finance (EMF) have achieved a lucrative asset play in a vibrant tanker market with two aframax newbuilds from South Korea.
EMF, chaired by the former Maersk chief commercial officer and the current CEO of Enerjen Capital, Stephen Schueler, confirmed the sale of 115,100 dwt Delaware Star and Galveston Star for $77.5m each.
The ships are two of the five original aframaxes Atlas ordered for around $46m at the South Korean yard DH Shipbuilding, formerly Daehan Shipbuilding. The two vessels are due to be delivered to General National Maritime Transport Company (GNMTC) in the next few weeks. The Libyan state-owned company also picked up the first two Atlas’ aframaxes New York Star, renamed Ghat and Philadelphia Star, now Anwaar Trablus last year for about $61.5m each.
“The best returns in shipping require a counter-cyclical approach and an early mover advantage, both on the way in and on the way out, said Leon Patitsas, CEO of Atlas Maritime, adding that “what today gets reported as a super lucrative deal was actually inked amid the deepest coronavirus gloom.”
Patitsas noted that Atlas is monitoring the markets to identify the next undervalued sector and that the company is “excited about what the future holds for further investment opportunities.”
