Nordic_American_TankersNordic American Tankers Ltd. bought a suezmax vessel built in 1999 for $24.5 million, 34 percent less than the estimated value for similar ships from Clarkson Research Services Ltd, Bloomberg reports.The vessel’s name was undisclosed by Nordic American in a Market News statement today. Ten-year-old suezmaxes with 150,000 deadweight tons of capacity cost $37 million as of Sept. 2, according to data from Clarkson, a unit of the world’s biggest shipbroker.
“We are surprised to see such a rapid drop,” Erik Nikolai Stavseth, an analyst at Arctic Securities ASA, said by phone from Oslo. “It could potentially reflect the real market level.”
The crude-oil tanker was built in the same year and at the same shipyard as sister vessel Nordic Sprite, the statement showed. The ship was probably the Hellespont Trust, and the sale price may be just a guideline because only three suezmaxes have been sold so far this year, Stavseth said earlier today in an e- mailed report.
A suezmax can haul 1 million barrels of oil. The vessels are the largest tankers that can navigate the Suez Canal while fully laden.
“We are surprised to see such a rapid drop,” Erik Nikolai Stavseth, an analyst at Arctic Securities ASA, said by phone from Oslo. “It could potentially reflect the real market level.”
The crude-oil tanker was built in the same year and at the same shipyard as sister vessel Nordic Sprite, the statement showed. The ship was probably the Hellespont Trust, and the sale price may be just a guideline because only three suezmaxes have been sold so far this year, Stavseth said earlier today in an e- mailed report.
A suezmax can haul 1 million barrels of oil. The vessels are the largest tankers that can navigate the Suez Canal while fully laden.