Capital Group, the tanker operation led by Evangelos Marinakis, has bought Exmar's first suezmax newbuilding in a resale deal reported at more than $106m — an uplift of over $20m on the original contract price in little more than a year.

Greek shipping and financial sources place Capital behind hull HN5112, a 157,000 dwt scrubber-fitted suezmax currently under construction at South Korea's DH Shipbuilding for delivery in 2027. The deal has not closed publicly: Exmar has yet to confirm the sale, and its fleet register still lists HN5112 and three sisterships — HN5114, HN5116 and HN5117 — as under construction under the Belgian flag.

The numbers explain why Exmar would sell. The Belgian company, controlled by the Saverys family, contracted four suezmaxes at DH Shipbuilding last September in its first move into crude tankers, at a reported contract value of around $339m, roughly $85m per vessel. Each of the 157,200 dwt ships carries around 1m barrels of crude, with the first unit due in the third quarter of 2027 and the order carrying options for four more.

At more than $106m, the HN5112 resale would monetise Exmar's first delivery slot before the vessel ever joins its fleet, locking in a paper gain north of $20m while retaining three sisterships scheduled for 2028.

For a company historically concentrated on LPG, ammonia and floating LNG infrastructure, the order was a significant diversification. Exmar said at the time it had identified strong prospects for suezmaxes. Selling the first slot converts that market call into cash without waiting for a 2027 delivery.

Marinakis doubles down on crude

For Capital, the purchase extends one of the largest crude tanker newbuilding pipelines in the public market. Capital Ship Management currently lists 54 tankers under management, including 26 VLCCs and 12 suezmaxes. The wider group's Oslo-listed vehicle, Capital Tankers, has grown to 33 owned ships, 18 of them still under construction, and added another three VLCC contracts from a Marinakis affiliate in June.

Capital Tankers arrived on the Oslo market earlier this year through a spin-off that gave investors direct exposure to that orderbook. Buying a near-delivery resale slot rather than contracting new capacity shortens the wait: a 2027 delivery at DH Shipbuilding fits a fleet plan already heavy with hulls due through the decade's end.

Suezmax economics drive the premium

The premium Capital is reportedly paying reflects a sharp rise in suezmax asset prices and earnings. Market reports have recently put one-year employment for modern suezmaxes at around $120,000 to $125,000 per day, pushing both secondhand values and resale prices sharply higher.

For owners holding early delivery slots, that creates a straightforward arbitrage: contract at 2024 prices, resell at 2026 asset values. For buyers, it means paying up now is defensible if earnings hold — a one-year charter near $120,000 per day on a 1m-barrel vessel recovers the premium quickly on paper.

The risk sits with the trajectory. Resale values at these levels assume suezmax rates stay firm through delivery in the third quarter of 2027. If earnings soften, late entrants paying resale premiums carry more downside than owners who contracted at the yard two years earlier.

Exmar's remaining three 2028 slots now carry the same option value: sell into strength or take delivery into a market that recently justified $106m for an undelivered ship. Either way, the Belgian operator has already validated its crude tanker diversification at a price few expected when it signed the quartet last September.