Join our crew and become one of the 104,606 members that receive our newsletter.

VLCC shipyard DSME block sections shipbuilding

1 Year-Old VLCC Bought for $74 Million, Heads Back to Yard for Conversion

Rob Almeida
Total Views: 142
May 2, 2013

In 2010, Teekay and their JV partner paid just under $100 million to order a newbuild VLCC, but since then quite a bit has changed in the crude tanker market.  Today, newbuild prices for a VLCC hover around $88 million, and $82 million for a newbuild that has just left the yard.

It’s hard to imagine losing $6 million in asset value once you “leave the lot,” but that’s what the shipbrokers tell me.

According to recent reports, the 2012-built M/T Blue Jade, a 320,000 DWT VLCC was just sold by DK Maritime of Korea for $74 million to an undisclosed buyer for conversion into the offshore sector.

We’re not sure what the original price was, but considering it’s almost $25 million less than what Teekay paid for theirs only a few years ago, it seems like a good deal. At the same time, it reflects what a horrible market VLCC owners are dealing with that one of them would buy a nearly brand new ship and send it back to the shipyard for a major conversion.  Or, why they didn’t perhaps buy a 5-year old ship at a $20 million discount.

There has to be a few of those available for sale right?

Update 1

As expected, I was missing a few pieces of the puzzle (my fault, I don’t speak or read Korean).  Here’s some insight from one of our followers on our Facebook page:

DK maritime is an offshoot of DSME. The vessel went by the previous name of G Elephant and was owned by TMT. Now we all know what’s happened to them.

TMT couldn’t afford the vessel and it was at anchor off DSME For over a year. I don’t believe that DSME(DK Maritime) will have made a loss on the vessel.

At present it’s sister ship H Elephant is soon to be named “Blue Opal”, well it’s already painted on the port side, and will also be owned by DK Maritime.

TMT, to clarify, stands for Today Makes Tomorrow, a now-insolvent shipping company that defaulted on a number of shipbuilding orders last year.

There’s a discrepancy however.  Blue Jade was reportedly built in 2012, and G Elephant was built in 2011.  Ian Knowles comments on our Facebook page noting:

You are correct. G Elephant was built in 2011 and never carried a cargo. She was sat at anchor off DSME shipyard up until she was renamed Blue Jade. She was No.4 in the series of Elephants with TMT taking delivery of A, B & C, after some delays and cash issues…… 

Can only assume there is an error in the documents portraying Blue Jade as being built in 2012.

Unlock Exclusive Insights Today!

Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.

Sign Up
Back to Main
polygon icon polygon icon

Why Join the gCaptain Club?

Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.

Sign Up
close

JOIN OUR CREW

Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 104,606 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.

Join Our Crew

Join the 104,606 members that receive our newsletter.