Nordic American Tankers has sold its oldest vessel, the 2003-built suezmax Nordic Pollux, for $25m, underlining the strength of the secondhand tanker market for vintage tonnage. The Japan-built 150,103 dwt tanker was sold debt-free, with the full proceeds going straight to the New York-listed owner. Shipping analysts at Swedish investment bank SEB said the achieved price was well above expectations. Based on recent broker assessments and straight-line depreciation, SEB had valued the vessel at around $18m, implying the sale came in roughly $7m, or about 40%, above its estimate. The price is also around 2.5 times the ship’s scrap value, which SEB puts at about $9.5m. “Although the confirmed price is significantly higher than our valuation, we note that transactions for suezmax tankers at this age are rare,” SEB said, adding that the deal has limited read-across to its tanker net asset value estimates due to Nordic American’s relatively young fleet profile. The sale follows a string of disposals as the Herbjørn Hansson-led company continues to renew its fleet. Late last year, Nordic American booked a solid gain after selling two older suezmaxes, built in 2004 and 2005, for a combined net price of $50m. At the same time, the owner has been stepping into new steel. Earlier this year, Nordic American firmed up contracts for two suezmax newbuildings in South Korea, converting previously announced preliminary agreements into firm orders. DH Shipbuilding has been named as the builder, with the two crude tankers priced at $86m apiece and scheduled for delivery in 2028. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsNorway