CMB.TECH has booked a $59.6m capital gain on its fifth suezmax sale of 2026, disposing of the 2011-built, 165,000 dwt Stella for an estimated $80m while the vessel already trades as "Spitfire" under a Singaporean owner at a market value of roughly $95m.

The Antwerp-based group, led by Alexander Saverys, said it delivered Stella to its new owner and will book the gain in the fourth quarter. CMB.TECH declined to disclose the buyer or the price, but the implied economics sit inside its own accounts.

Where does the $80m estimate come from?

Stella and the 2007-built Sienna carried a combined book value of $32.9m at year-end 2025. Sienna subsequently sold for $41.9m, producing a $29.2m gain that implies a carrying value near $12.7m — leaving roughly $20.2m attributable to Stella. Add the latest $59.6m gain and the net price lands close to $80m.

Market reports have linked Stella, now Spitfire, to a one-year Trafigura charter at around $120,000 per day, the kind of earnings backdrop that explains why secondhand suezmax values have moved so quickly. SEB analysts described the disposal as "another positive step in CMB.TECH's tanker divestment programme." The bank carries Stella at about $85m.

What does the deal mean for CMB.TECH's books?

The Stella sale takes the Belgian group's disclosed suezmax capital gains for 2026 to roughly $246m across five vessels: Sienna, Brest, Brugge, Bristol and now Stella. That is a meaningful contribution to a much larger crude tanker monetisation drive.

CMB.TECH has also sold nine VLCCs this year:

• A six-ship package generating $261.1m in gains
• The Ingrid and Ilma pair for another $98.2m
• The 2016-built Donoussa, expected to add $74.3m

Including Stella, disclosed gains from CMB.TECH's VLCC and suezmax disposals in 2026 approach $680m — a figure that helps explain why a group with a fleet of roughly 235 ships, spanning dry bulk, chemical tankers, containerships and offshore vessels, is willing to shrink its crude tanker footprint. After the latest sale CMB.TECH counts five VLCCs and 14 suezmaxes remaining.

What's not in the announcement?

CMB.TECH did not name the buyer. SEB's note that it "would have been surprised to see the vessel change hands below" $85m, given the strength of the secondhand market and premiums on earlier CMB.TECH sales, sets a useful benchmark. VesselsValue's $95m valuation on the renamed Spitfire suggests the new owner paid closer to SEB's number than to the implied $80m — though online valuations and reported sale prices rarely move in lockstep.

The $120,000-per-day Trafigura rumour, if it holds, also gives an earnings arithmetic that helps justify prices at or above $95m: at that rate, a $15m-$20m premium over the implied $80m would pay back inside a single year of the reported charter.

What comes next?

SEB said it expects more sales to follow, with CMB.TECH "likely to continue opportunistically monetising crude tanker assets while valuations remain elevated." With five VLCCs and 14 suezmaxes left, and the secondhand market still pricing 165,000 dwt ships near $95m, the group has both the inventory and the incentive to keep selling. The next data point will be CMB.TECH's fourth-quarter accounts, where the Stella gain and any further disposals land together.