Romania leading the way in the MR1 tanker sector

There are 570 vessels in the MR1 tanker fleet, which ranges in size from 29,500 dwt to 40,999 dwt. The sector is one of the oldest, with an average age of 16.8 years old, which is significant given that the oil majors and many traders have a limit of 15 years old as a cut-off for chartered-in tonnage.

To put this into context, only 175 MR1 tankers are 15 years old or younger; nearly 70% of the fleet could be classed as over age. In common with other tanker sectors, the ration between vessels on order and the current fleet is low, just 1.9% of the fleet.

Is the MR1 tanker sector dying out? Fleet renewal of the sector is certainly slow, with just five newbuildings expected to join the fleet in 2024.

Among the beneficial owners, Maersk Tankers has the largest fleet, but it is approaching 15 years old. It is noticeable that Maersk Tankers sold 2004-built Maersk Kalea to an unknown Middle East buyer in January 2024 for a reported US$12.5M. The Special Survey for this vessel is due in March 2024. There are no MR1 newbuildings on order for the account of Maersk Tankers.

Histria Shipmanagement of Romania has the second largest MR1 tanker fleet, but has been making considerable investments in fleet renewal. The 2019-built Histria Atlas is the first of the company’s ECOMAX series, the result of five years of development by SNC, Histria Shipping, and Italian class society RINA.

Since then, another one of these high-cubic capacity MR1 tankers has been delivered, lifting the average age of the Histria Management fleet to 11 years old, and the associated shipyard in Constanza (SNC) has another three under construction, with deliveries slated for 2024 and beyond. All the vessels are commercially controlled by Histria Shipmanagement and sail under the Romanian flag.

Sailing under the flag of Gabon is the somewhat older MR1 tanker fleet of Gatik Ship Management, which is based in Mumbai, India. Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, the little-known Gatik acquired 41 tankers in 2022 alone, which prompted investigations which led to the company being accused of being a proxy for Russia.

The company purchased 13 MR1 tankers in 2022 and 2023, the youngest being 14 years old. By March 2023, the whole of the Gatik fleet was valued at US$1Bn, but since then the company has been reported to be selling off vessels to unknown buyers. In 2023, Lloyd’s Register announced it was withdrawing certification of 21 of Gatik’s vessels. In January 2024, the 2005-built MR2 tanker Electra was detained in Gibraltar after the crew complained that Gatik had not paid them for two months.