The tanker market is going through an unusual phase where urgency has started to matter more than fundamentals, with buyers now paying exceptional premiums just to secure ships that can be delivered quickly.
Fresh data reported by Clarksons Research shows how far the market has shifted.
Trafigura has purchased the scrubber-fitted VLCC resale newbuilding Las Palmas (306,000 dwt, built 2026 at Hengli Shipbuilding) for what is understood to be a price in the low $160m range, with delivery expected in September next year.
In another major deal, Teekay Tankers has agreed to acquire two scrubber-fitted suezmax resale newbuildings from DH Shipbuilding for a combined $190m, or around $95m per vessel. Both 157,000 dwt units are scheduled for delivery in 2027.
These transactions reflect a broader trend across the tanker sector, where asset values are no longer following normal depreciation patterns. Instead, pricing is being heavily influenced by geopolitical risk and the scarcity of immediately available tonnage.
According to analysis from Signal Ocean, the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz has effectively disrupted the usual relationship between vessel age and value.
In current conditions, a five-year-old VLCC is now estimated to be worth around $9m more than a brand-new ship ordered from a Korean yard. Suezmax values have also flattened, with little distinction between modern secondhand vessels and newbuildings. Even Aframax prices are showing similar distortions.
The imbalance is even more visible in the resale market, where buyers are reportedly paying between 21% and 35% above standard newbuilding prices simply to avoid long delivery delays.
For VLCCs, resale premiums are now estimated to reach as much as $45.5m above regular newbuild pricing.
As Signal Ocean notes, this breaks with normal market behaviour: “In normal conditions, a resale vessel earns a modest premium for saved wait time, and a five-year-old ship trades at a clear discount to a newbuild. Neither is true today.”
What emerges is a tanker market where timing has become as valuable as the asset itself, and where traditional pricing logic is struggling to keep up with real-world trading conditions.
