Scandinavian tanker owners, Concordia Maritime and Neste Oil have reached an agreement to sell a pair of  jointly-owned, 2007-built Ice Class 1A panamax tankers, Stena Poseidon and Palva to the recently incorporated tanker company, Transport Maritime St-Laurent Inc.

The largest shareholder in this new shipping company is Valero, which owns a 230,000-barrel-per-day refinery  in Quebec City.  Last year  Valero received a one-year, renewable permit from the U.S. Commerce Department to export Texas crude to its refinery on the St. Lawrence River.

In addition, pipeline operator Enbridge received approval from the National Energy Board on March 6, 2014 to reverse the flow of their 639-kilometer pipeline between North Westover, Ontario to Montreal.  It’s likely these tankers will be used to transport this crude from Montreal to the Quebec City refinery.

Stena Poseidon and Palva are panamax tankers with a deadweight of 75,000 tons and were delivered from Brodosplit Shipyard in Split in 2007.

“We are content to see this sale go through as it suits our strategic objective of focusing on our spot operated P-MAX fleet. The sale will have a positive result for Concordia Maritime and will be realized in the 2ndquarter”, says Kim Ullman, CEO, Concordia Maritime.

For Neste Oil, this sale is a continuation of their previously announced divestment from the shipping industry.