VesselsValue data shows that Imperial Petroleum, a U.S.-listed shipping company led by Harry Vafias, has sold the last Suezmax tanker in its fleet—the “Suez Protopia,” built in 2008—for $82 million. The buyer’s identity has not yet been disclosed.
Records show that the “Suez Protopia” was built and delivered by Samsung Heavy Industries. With an age of 18 years and a deadweight tonnage of 160,391 tons, the vessel had a market valuation of $74.34 million, meaning the transaction price was approximately $7.7 million higher than its valuation.
Upon completion of this transaction, Imperial Petroleum will completely exit the Suezmax tanker segment. According to the shipowner’s fleet list updated on September 10, the “Suez Protopia” is the only remaining Suezmax tanker in its fleet.
Earlier in August, Imperial Petroleum sold the “Suez Enchanted,” a 19-year-old Suezmax tanker built in 2007, for $49 million. The vessel has now completed the renaming and change of ownership, generating a net gain of approximately $32 million.
It is understood that the two recent vessel sales by Imperial Petroleum—involving the Suezmax tankers “Suez Enchanted” and “Suez Protopia”—did not involve vessels that the owner had invested in and built itself. In 2022, the owner purchased these two Suezmax tankers for a total price of $46.8 million and took delivery of them on June 3 of that year.
Four years after purchasing the vessels, Imperial Petroleum sold the “Suez Enchanted” and the “Suez Protopia” for a total of $131 million—significantly higher than the combined original purchase price of the two vessels, representing a gain of $84.2 million.
Overall, although Imperial Petroleum has recently announced several vessel sales, the size of its fleet has not decreased. Its active fleet currently consists of 21 vessels, and with four additional vessels already under acquisition agreements, the fleet size will increase to 25 vessels upon completion of those transactions. Following the completion of this sale of Suezmax tankers, the company’s tanker operations will focus on the MR product tanker segment, while it continues to expand its dry bulk fleet.