August and September have been busy months for India’s tanker owners. Market sources tell Splash that local players are bidding for tonnage as refiners grow increasingly wary of Washington’s tightening grip on Russian crude.
This week, privately held, Mumbai-headquartered Seven Islands Shipping has been noted by brokers to be in the process of expanding its suezmax portfolio, doubling it in size, paying a little over $40m to Greece’s Tanker Ventures for the 158,000 dwt Constantios, a 2009 Hyundai Samho-built ship.
The deal follows last week’s news that another Mumbai heavyweight, the publicly listed Great Eastern Shipping, was behind the purchase of CMB. TECH’s Sofia. The 165,000 dwt suezmax, built in 2010, was also built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries. This ship changed hands for $40.1m, with its special survey and drydock due.