Since the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East and the subsequent surge in tanker charter rates, Greek shipowners have capitalized on the booming tanker market, generating over $5 billion through the sale of assets.
Based on data from the shipbroker Xclusiv Shipbrokers, Greek shipowners sold a total of 71 oil tankers between March and October 2026, raising a cumulative total of $5.18 billion. During the same period in 2025, Greek shipowners sold a total of 55 oil tankers with a combined value of $2 billion; for the full year of 2025, 84 oil tankers were sold, with a combined value of $2.92 billion.
A comparison reveals that the total value of transactions in the Greek-linked tanker market from March to October 2026 was approximately 77.5% higher than the total for the full year of 2025—a figure that clearly illustrates the significant appreciation in the value of secondhand tanker assets. Over the past 12 months, prices for secondhand tankers—across various vessel types and age categories—have risen by between 18% and 177%.
Dimitris Roumeliotis, a research analyst at Xclusiv Shipbrokers, stated: “This notable discrepancy in the data suggests that the rise in prices reflects not only an increase in transaction volume but also a distinct shift in the composition of vessel types being traded, alongside a significant appreciation in asset valuations.”
Roumeliotis further noted: “The crude oil tanker segment has seen the most pronounced gains. In 2025, Greek shipowners primarily sold Aframax/LR2 tankers. By 2026, Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) and Suezmax tankers had become the dominant vessel types in the secondhand market, together accounting for approximately 76% of the total transaction value during the period under review.”
Specifically, between March and October 2026, Greek shipowners sold a total of 13 VLCCs, 25 Suezmax tankers, and 15 Aframax/LR2 tankers, with transaction values reaching $1.95 billion, $1.97 billion, and $903 million, respectively.
During the same period in 2025, Greek shipowners sold 9 VLCCs, 13 Suezmax tankers, and 17 Aframax/LR2 tankers, with transaction values totaling $444 million, $781 million, and $580 million, respectively; additional vessels from other tanker segments also changed hands.
In recent months, the pace of transactions in Greece’s secondhand oil tanker market has picked up significantly, particularly in September and October 2026, when transactions accounted for approximately 62 percent of the total transaction volume from March through October 2026.
Commenting on this, Dimitris Roumeliotis noted: “The surge in transactions coincided with exceptionally strong asset valuations in the large oil tanker segment, with high freight rates and favorable market conditions supporting secondhand vessel prices.”