New York-listed Scorpio Tankers is reshaping its fleet through a four-vessel newbuilding programme alongside the sale of three product tankers, with the new ships scheduled for delivery between 2028 and 2029.
The company has agreed to sell the MR product tanker STI Dama, built in 2014, for $37.5m. It is also selling two 2014- and 2015-built LR2s, STI Elysees for $70m and STI Veneto for $73.0m, respectively.
All three vessels are fitted with scrubbers and have remained in the Scorpio fleet since they were delivered. They are, however, among the oldest vessels in the company’s current fleet of 74 product tankers. The transactions are expected to close before the end of 2026.
As of July, all three ships were operating within Scorpio’s MR and LR2 pools under the management of Scorpio Commercial Management.
At the same time, Scorpio has committed to four newbuildings, including two VLCCs that represent a notable expansion beyond the company’s traditional product tanker fleet.
Two LR2 product tankers will be built at Jiangsu Hantong Ship Heavy Industry in China at a contract price of $72.8m each. Their deliveries are scheduled for October and November 2029.
Scorpio is also ordering two VLCCs at Hengli shipyard, with each vessel costing $135m. The tankers are scheduled for delivery in September and October 2028.
The VLCC orders add to two other crude tankers already in Scorpio’s orderbook. Those vessels, also scheduled for delivery in the third and fourth quarters of 2028, are being built by Hanwha Ocean in South Korea.
Scorpio ordered the Hanwha VLCCs in November 2025, when chairman and CEO Emanuele Lauro said the investment reflected the company’s strong and long-term view of the fundamentals of the crude tanker market.
The latest VLCC commitments come as exceptionally high freight rates fuel an extremely active sale-and-purchase market. Five-year-old VLCCs are now selling comfortably above the newbuilding prices Scorpio has agreed to pay for its latest ships.
Newbuilding resales have reportedly reached $200m, while market rumours have pointed to recent transactions at as much as $250m per vessel.
Scorpio Tankers currently operates 74 vessels, comprising 25 LR2s, 35 MRs and 14 Handymaxes, with an average fleet age of 10.2 years.
Following the latest transactions, the company’s orderbook includes five MR newbuildings currently under construction, with deliveries scheduled between 2027 and 2030, as well as eight LR2 newbuildings due for delivery between 2027 and 2029.
The orderbook also includes four VLCC newbuildings, all scheduled for delivery in 2028.
