The top 10 buyers of the last six months in the Tanker sector have spent just over USD 1.3 bil. Using Veson Nautical solution VesselsValue’s data we take a look at the top Tanker buyers since March 2025.
Despite an overall dip in sales from last year’s levels, due to market uncertainty, there has still been plenty of demand for secondhand vessel purchases. As earnings remain at stable levels due to ongoing supporting factors such as rerouting and sanctions, owners have taken the opportunity to reinvest and grow their current fleets,particularly with values still firm but at much lower levels from their peak in August 2024.
Out of the top 10 buyers of the past six months, over half of these companies were based in Greece. MRs were one of the most popular vessel types, accounting for c.60% of sales in the top 10. It has been a mixed six months for MR values with more modern vessels increasing in value; for example, 5YO vessels of 50,000 DWT have increased by c.3.13% since March from USD 40.11 mil to USD 41.36 mil.
Whereas older vessels have seen their values plummet with 20YO vessels of 45,000 DWT falling by c.19.86% in six months from USD 14.5 mil to USD 11.62 mil.
Greek owned Naftomar has been the biggest Tanker buyer of the last six months, investing USD 192 mil in six vessels. The sale included six MR vessels from BP. The vessels were built at Hyundai Mipo and built between 2016-17, bringing Naftomar’s purchasing spree of the last year to a total of ten Tankers.
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UAE based Lila Global rank joint first with their purchase of six Tankers, valued at USD 143.2 mil. These vessels include two small Chemical Tankers, two MR Tankers, one Suezmax and one VLCC with an average age of sixteen years. IMS SA of Greece rank second, purchasing five Tankers which includes four MR Tankers of around 50,000 DWT and one LR2 Tanker of 105,200 DWT, for a total of USD 123.3 mil.
Polembros Shipping of Greece rank joint third but were the biggest spenders of the year, slashing out USD 262.8 mil by scooping up four Tanker newbuilding resales from Pro Tanker Investment. These vessels are currently being built at Zhoushan Changhong and are scheduled to be delivered between 2026-27.
Torm are in joint third place with the second largest spend of the last six months of USD 211.68 mil for four LR2 Tankers of around 114,000 DWT with an average age of 9 years. These vessels were primarily purchased from Bank of Communications Financial Leasing.
Sea Trade Maritime are also in third place with their purchase of four older Tankers with an average age of 17 years. The purchase, which included two MR Tankers, one LR2 and Suezmax, came to a total spend of USD 92.8 mil.
Stealth Maritime also purchased four vessels in the past six months. The transaction included four MR Tankers of 47,200 – 50,000 DWT and were purchased from UOG and D’Amico for a total of USD 71.1 mil.
Venergy Maritime are in joint fourth place, purchasing three modern MR Tankers of 50,000 DWT and built from 2018 onwards. These vessels were bought from Premuda and Scorpio Tankers for a total of USD 116.5 mil.
Adrmore Shipping are also in fourth place, snapping up three modern MRs of around 50,000 DWT and built from 2017 – 2020. This purchase includes an enbloc sale of two vessels from China Development Bank, bringing their total spend to USD 103.1 mil. Seven Islands Shipping purchased two Small Clean Tankers and one MR over the past six months, spending a total of USD 38.3 mil.
