Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (TYO:9104) plans to sell one to two older oil tankers a year as vessel prices rise amid tighter shipping capacity, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing Chairman Takeshi Hashimoto.
The Japanese shipping company sees current tanker prices as attractive and does not want to miss the opportunity to sell, the report quoted Hashimoto as saying on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Bangkok.
A five-year-old very large crude carrier is currently valued at about $151 million, above the $130 million cost of a new vessel, while a 20-year-old tanker is worth about $71 million, up 90% from a year earlier, Bloomberg noted citing Signal Ocean data.
The sales strategy could improve capital efficiency but would reduce the company's available tonnage, while Middle East and Ukraine conflicts have disrupted trade routes and tightened tanker capacity, Bloomberg noted.
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