A tanker with a colourful past has changed hands for the eighth time in its 18-year history and the second time this year.
Piraeus-based Cavalli Marine has bought the Chinese-built Yale from Turkey’s Varan Maritime and renamed the vessel Alter Ego. No price has been revealed with online portal VesselsValue suggesting the vintage tanker has a market value of $39.08m, a far cry from back in 2008 when the then two-year-old ship made headlines for its stunning $170m sale by Nobu Su’s TMT to India’s Mercator, one of the highest prices ever paid for a VLCC, a transaction made just four months before shipping markets crashed in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
The history of this ship has sparked many headlines over the years.
Data from TankerTrackers.com shows the that between 2019 and 2020, the ship moved Venezuelan oil three times and Iranian oil was transported on it four times in the period from 2022 to 2023.
In May 2019, Mercator confirmed its sale for $27.5m, nearly five months after it was initially reported as sold to Greece’s NGM Energy. NGM Energy arrested the ship upon arrival at Qingdao port in China. Vessel prices had increased sharply since Mercator had agreed to sell to NGM Energy. Mercator was discussing selling to other companies despite having a valid sale contract with NGM Energy. The ship was eventually released to NGM Energy at the price initially agreed.
Cavalli Marine, a new shipping account, has also added three elderly capes and one MR tanker, built between 2001 and 2007, since last year.
