New York-listed tanker owner DHT Holdings is advancing its fleet renewal by downsizing its aging fleet.
On December 29, DHT announced via its official website that it has entered into an agreement to sell the DHT China and the DHT Europe for a combined price of $101.6 million. Both vessels were built at Hyundai in 2007. The vessels are expected to be delivered to the new owner during the first quarter of 2026. After repayment of existing debt on the vessels, amounting to $5.6 million in aggregate, the transaction is expected to generate net cash proceeds of approximately $95.0 million. The Company expects to record gains of $30.4 million and $29.7 million respectively to the sales.
Following the completion of its latest vessel sale transaction, DHT now retains only one aging VLCC also built in 2007: the 301,000 DWT “DHT Bauhinia”, constructed by Hanwha Ocean (formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering).
This downsizing of the aging fleet continues DHT’s asset disposal plan from earlier this year, when the company sold the two Chinese-built VLCCs, “DHT Lotus” and “DHT Peony”, for a total price of US$103 million. These vessels have now been delivered to their new owners. Both VLCCs have a deadweight tonnage of 320,000 tons and were built and delivered by Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry in 2011. They joined DHT in 2017, for which DHT purchased them for US$115.8 million.
In addition to selling old vessels, DHT has acquired a VLCC built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2018 this year. The vessel joined the fleet in the third quarter of 2025 at a purchase price of $107 million.
Besides being active in the second-hand ship market, DHT currently has four VLCCs under construction, built by Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Samho, with deliveries scheduled between April and December 2026.
According to its official website, DHT is an independent crude oil tanker company currently operating a fleet of 26 VLCCs (including vessels under construction and two vessels for sale). It conducts business globally through integrated management companies based in Monaco, Norway, Singapore, and India.