Larine Tankers sells LR1 pair Bluebird and Starling to UAE buyers for $110m
The Odfjell-family-linked owner exits direct tanker ownership with the sale of two 2016-built, 74,000 dwt product tankers
Larine Tankers, a shipowner tied to the Odfjell family's private shipping interests, has sold its two LR1 product tankers to buyers in the UAE for a combined $110m, or about $55m each, shipbrokers say.
The ships are Bluebird and Starling, both of 74,000 dwt, Singapore-flagged and built in 2016 at China's New Times Shipbuilding. With no other ships registered to the company, the sale takes Larine out of direct tanker ownership nearly a decade after the pair entered service.
Both tankers have traded in Hafnia's LR1 pool since February 2017 and remain on its fleet list, although their commercial employment could change after handover. The buyers have not been identified beyond their UAE connection, and no delivery or closing date has been disclosed.
Marianne Odfjell has longstanding links to the Larine investment structure, and Norwegian company records show Larine Tankers Holding as part of the wider ownership chain.
The price sits at the top of a firm secondhand market for modern tonnage. In the same week the 2005-built LR1 Jag Sparrow was sold for just over $23m, which puts the gap between a ten-year-old and a 21-year-old ship of the same size at more than $30m. Earlier in October the Belgian owner Transpetrol was linked to the $73m sale of the 2016-built aframax TP Affinity to Turkish buyers, and Scorpio Tankers agreed to sell three older product tankers for a combined $180.5m as part of its fleet renewal.
The crude market shows the same premium for prompt tonnage. Baltic Exchange indicators for 9 October valued a five-year-old VLCC at $182.5m, about 45% above the $125.875m newbuilding price indicator, as diversions, ship-to-ship transfers and longer voyages tie up more ships to move the same volumes. The composite VLCC time-charter equivalent stood at $936,646 a day on 9 October, up from $207,796 on 13 July.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 15 October 2026.
