Metrostar grows further with acquisition of two tankers
Metrostar, the shipping company of Theodoros Angelopoulos, is strengthening its fleet, according to TradeWinds, an industry publication. The report said that the firm has acquired two VLCC tankers under construction (with a capacity of 300,000 deadweight tons) from the Lebanese company Ghassan Ghandour. Shipbrokers estimate the cost of the purchase at $250 million, as each vessel is priced at about $124 million. The ships were ordered from Korean shipyards Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2004, costing $85 million each, with delivery scheduled for 2007. Metrostar has improved its cash flow in the last couple of years after selling its entire fleet to Genmar of Petros Georgiopoulos in 2003, for $520 million. Additionally it sold four VLCCs last March to the Brussels-listed Euronav, acquiring $477.5 million. Besides its recent purchases, Metrostar has 13 dry-bulk ships under construction and manages two more VLCC tankers. The latter are the only moneymaking assets of the firm at present ahead of the delivery of the new ships. Other Greek shipping firms are also active in this period: Centrofin Management of the Prokopiou family recently sold two modern aframax tankers, earning significant capital gains. The first one, the Apanemo, with a capacity of 114,000 dwt and built in 2003, was reportedly sold to the Lykiardopoulos family which controls Neda Maritime. Estimates put its price at $75 million, while Centrofin only paid $39 million for its construction in Korea. Neda Maritime reportedly controls 19 vessels. A few weeks ago Centrofin sold the HS Norma, a 115,000-dwt tanker built in 2004, to Italy’s Finaval for about $70 million. The company has in recent years invested $425 million in the radical renewal of its fleet, acquiring 13 new tankers in the last two years, while getting rid of its older ships, constructed in the 1970s or early 1980s. Recently the firm paid Euronav $80.5 million to buy a suezmax vessel of 159,000 dwt that is still under construction and will be delivered next year.
