Home Green Marine SFL sheds Suezmax tanker duo and pulls the plug on charters for two other vessels
December 19, 2025,
by
Melisa Cavcic
Bermuda-based shipowner and charterer SFL Corporation has decided to divest two ten-year-old Suezmax tankers used for crude oil transport and end charters for two more such vessels.
While revealing its agreement to sell the two 2015-built Suezmax tankers, SFL Thelon and SFL Ottawa, currently on charter to a trading house, Koch, SFL explains that the gross sales price is expected to be approximately $57 million per vessel.
As a result, the net proceeds are estimated at around $26 million per vessel after repayment of associated debt and payment of a termination fee in accordance with a pre-agreed profit share arrangement. Each of the vessels was set to be chartered until Q4 2028.
The vessels will be delivered in the fourth and first quarters, respectively, and the Bermuda-based firm anticipates to record an aggregate book gain of about $23 million from the transaction allocated between the two vessels.
In addition, the firm has agreed with the same charterer to mutually terminate the charters for the two 2020-built Suezmax tankers, SFL Albany and SFL Fraser, and pay a termination fee under a pre-agreed profit share arrangement.
According to the company, the two retained vessels are Korea-built eco-design and equipped with scrubbers. These vessels will initially be employed in the spot market and in due course SFL may look for longer-term employment for these ships.
Ole B. Hjertaker, Chief Executive Officer of SFL Management, commented: “This transaction illustrates the embedded value in our fleet, where we can materialize a significant profit from the sale of two 10-year-old vessels just three years after their acquisition. And in the meantime, we have enjoyed solid cash flows from the vessels.
“A portion of the proceeds will be reinvested in the younger, more fuel-efficient vessels that are well positioned to benefit from the current strong charter market, where prevailing charter rates are materially higher than the existing fixed charter rates.”
SFL Corporation brought in the fourth LNG dual-fuel car carrier to its fleet in 2024, after welcoming the first two LNG dual-fuel car carriers in 2023 and the third ship at the beginning of 2024.