Besiktas Shipping is one of many family-owned Turkish owners throwing cash on the table, bidding primarily for millennium-aged tankers. The Kalkavan family-run outfit was behind seven MR transactions throughout 2023, while sources say it’s still in the market for more ships. The active owner has just touched the 30-ship mark for the first time this year as it piles in for more product tankers. The latest deal involves a ship in its favourite segment, adding the 18-year-old 37,000-dwt Blue Trader, a Hyundai Mipo-built tanker, for just under $18m, from Galaxy Energy Group, while sales chatter also surrounds a 2008-built tanker, a second deal in short succession, with brokers linking the outfit to the Sungdong-built, 47,000 dwt Sochrina, sold by Greek interests. Besiktas’s fleet has rapidly increased since the war with Ukraine started, approaching the half-a-billion dollar mark according to VesselsValue. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsTurkey