Brokers are circulating prices north of $200m apiece for two of Bruton's VLCC newbuildings — ships that cost the Oslo-listed owner about $117m each at the yard. That premium, on vessels still almost a year from delivery, has pushed Tor Olav Trøim-backed Bruton into a formal strategic review, and shipbroking sources have linked International Seaways to a purchase of at least two of its remaining ships.

Bruton acknowledged the speculation on Thursday. It said the review aims to maximise shareholder value, but declined to name counterparties or describe what form a transaction might take. There's no certainty a deal happens at all, the company stressed.

The market talk centres on the 300,000 dwt Mount Frontier and Mount Summit, both under construction at New Times Shipyard and due in August and October 2027. Neither Bruton nor International Seaways has confirmed negotiations or pricing. But the two ships stand out on Bruton's fleet list for one simple reason: they're the only vessels in the remaining portfolio without charter coverage.

What does the chatter say about the market?

The numbers matter here, so take them apart. Bruton's own investor material puts the yard price of Mount Frontier and Mount Summit at roughly $117m each. The higher $134m figure sometimes attached to the programme applies to the first two LNG dual-fuel ships, Mount Vision and Mount Horizon — not the 2027 pair.

SEB analysts put a current VLCC newbuild at around $131m and a vessel under a year old on the water at about $240m. Against those benchmarks, the $200m-plus chatter looks rich for ships delivering in late 2027.

"The suggested price of north of $200m for Bruton's vessels indicates that deliveries as far out as August and October 2027 could currently be valued well above newbuild prices," the bank's analysts noted. "A buyer paying that level for vessels delivering this far out is implicitly pricing in a strong rate environment well into next year."

So the premium isn't just about steel. It's a bet on tanker earnings.

Why International Seaways fits as a buyer

The New York-listed owner had 10 VLCCs in its operating fleet at the start of August — seven owned, three chartered in. The strategic logic is visible in its recent record:

• Earlier this year it sold two older VLCCs, built in 2010 and 2012, within a seven-ship disposal programme that generated more than $222m in net proceeds.
• It bought the 2020-built VLCC Seaways Gibbs Hill for $119m last year, with delivery in the fourth quarter.
• The Lois Zabrocky-led company has described selective purchases of secondhand ships, resales and newbuilding contracts as part of its fleet renewal strategy.

The balance sheet backs a sizeable move. International Seaways finished June with about $935m of liquidity — $409m of cash and short-term investments plus $526m of undrawn revolving capacity — and net loan-to-value around 6%.

It has also tightened its grip on the commercial side. In January it took full ownership of Tankers International, the long-established VLCC pool manager.

A leaner Bruton after the August split

The review lands only weeks after Bruton reshaped itself. In August the owner split its original 12-ship VLCC programme, keeping the first four New Times vessels and moving eight newbuildings into newly listed OMC Tankers. OMC took four later-delivery New Times VLCCs and four ships at Yantai CIMC Raffles, plus $50m in cash, and began trading on Euronext Growth Oslo on August 28. Bruton emerged as a four-ship company.

Two of those ships already earn. Mount Vision delivered in July and went straight onto a 3+1+1-year charter, with the first nine months fixed at $95,000 per day before reverting to an index-linked structure. Mount Horizon, due from New Times next month, is fixed for 12 to 15 months at $105,700 per day.

The financing picture is tidy too. Bruton has arranged Chinese sale-and-leaseback facilities covering 85% to 90% of construction cost across all four ships, and has previously put cash breakeven for the two conventional 2027 VLCCs at around $35,000 per day.

What changes for shippers and owners?

For charterers, a sale to International Seaways would move two uncommitted 2027 VLCCs into an owner that manages them through its own pool platform — potentially tightening how that tonnage reaches the spot market. For other owners, the chatter confirms that resale values have raced far ahead of yard prices, which sets a floor under asset values and raises the bar for anyone ordering new. For Bruton's shareholders, the review now has to translate a seller's market into an actual deal.

Whether that ends in a sale to International Seaways, a wider transaction involving Bruton, or no deal at all, the strategic review launched this week will determine — with the outcome hinging on how long buyers believe the strong rate environment holds into next year.