Two VLCC sales sealed in short succession show an interesting pattern. A 20-year-old VLCC has changed its name three times in one year. A ship now named Keegan, before Haishen, before that Merd, while from 2005 until its sale a year ago, it proudly sailed the seas as Great Lady. The ship is now flying the Cameroon flag and is with an outfit identified only as Northshore Ventures, which purchased it from an Emirates-registered company, Nexus Global Services. The ship has been identified as part of a network transporting Iranian crude to evade sanctions, often to China. Sources have reported the sale at $38m. Another 2004-built giant playing the same game has just been sold for $31m. The ship was sold to Hellenic Tankers a year ago, who flipped it to a Marshall Islands outfit registered as Crystal Blue Sky, who renamed it Ill Gap. Ill Gap was soon after blacklisted, and now it is named Sansovino. VesselsValue notes that it was with a company registered as Oceanfield Shipping, which has sold it back to Crystal Blue Sky. Also, this ship is now flagged with the Cameroon flag. This year, more than 60 secondhand VLCC sales have been reported, but since the war against Iran started, buying has taken a break in the segment, with smaller crude sizes being pursued as rates have skyrocketed. Sources also note one deal in the making, the 2006-built Kiho. One broker reports the Japanese-built ship has seen close to $55m in bids to date, while it was previously reported to have been sold for around $51m last month. One can compare this Japanese-built VLCC to the sale of the one-year-younger ship by supertanker owner DHT Holdings in the beginning of February for $51.5m, selling the 2007-built 301,000 dwt DHT Bauhinia. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsUAE