The sale of a tanker built in 2011 is expected to add almost $60 million to CMB.TECH’s earnings, extending a disposal programme that offers a revealing view of how the Belgian shipping group is managing the current market cycle.

On 13 October 2026, CMB.TECH announced that its Euronav tanker division had sold the 165,000 dwt Suezmax Stella. The vessel had already been delivered to its new owners, with an estimated gain of $59.6 million to be recognised in the fourth quarter. The company disclosed neither the sale price nor the buyer’s identity.

Including Stella, the tanker sales announced by CMB.TECH from the beginning of 2026 through 13 October cover 14 vessels: nine VLCCs and five Suezmaxes. Together, the transactions represent approximately $679.5 million in realised and expected disposal gains, with recognition spread across different quarters. They include older ships approaching two decades of service and modern vessels delivered as recently as 2024.

Why sell ships when tanker operations are still generating exceptionally strong cash flow? Viewed alongside chief executive Alexander Saverys’ comments and the group’s investment in dry bulk shipping, charter coverage and ammonia infrastructure, the transactions suggest a consistent approach: capture attractive returns in today’s freight and asset markets, adjust exposure to future supply growth, and preserve the capacity to invest.

Saverys used the expression “Making Hay” when discussing the second-quarter results. The group’s actions give that phrase a practical meaning: convert favourable market conditions into operating income, realised asset value and greater financial flexibility.

Fourteen Tanker Sales Across the Year

The disposal programme began early in 2026. Six VLCC sales announced in January were expected to generate approximately $261.1 million in gains. Two further VLCCs, Ilma and Ingrid, both built in 2012, were delivered to their buyers in the second quarter, contributing a combined $98.2 million. The sale of the Suezmax Sienna, built in 2007, added another $29.2 million.

The group subsequently announced the sale of the Suezmaxes Brest and Brugge, both built in 2023, with their combined expected gain updated to $100.2 million. The VLCC Donoussa, built in 2016, and the Suezmax Bristol, built in 2024, were expected to contribute a further $74.3 million and $56.9 million respectively. Stella brings the total for these 14 tanker transactions to approximately $679.5 million.

Asset disposals had already made a substantial contribution to the financial results. CMB.TECH reported net profit of approximately $733.2 million for the first half of 2026, alongside gains of approximately $394.9 million on the disposal of vessels and other tangible assets. The figures show how both fleet operations and asset transactions contribute to the group’s earnings. For a business holding substantial capital in ships, the timing of a sale can be as consequential as the original purchase and subsequent commercial employment.

Selling also changes the company’s future commitments. It releases capital for other uses while giving up the vessel’s subsequent earnings and reducing exposure to its operating costs and market value. The ultimate return therefore depends on the price achieved, the performance of the remaining fleet and how effectively the proceeds are redeployed.

Why Even a Two-Year-Old Tanker Can Be Sold

Bristol is particularly instructive. Delivered in 2024, the ship still has a long potential operating life, yet it was offered for sale in 2026. Brest and Brugge were similarly young. Xinde Marine’s earlier reporting examined these transactions as evidence that CMB.TECH’s disposals extended beyond the conventional practice of selling ageing ships to renew a fleet.

During the 27 August earnings call, an analyst asked Saverys why the company would sell modern Suezmaxes that could continue generating substantial cash flow. His response described three choices available to a shipowner: operate a vessel in the spot market, fix it on time charter, or sell it. For certain ships, the prices offered represented sufficiently attractive value to justify a sale. Further decisions would be made vessel by vessel.

Each option exchanges one form of opportunity and risk for another. Spot trading retains earnings upside and exposure to falling freight rates. A time charter improves revenue visibility for an agreed period. A sale realises the value a buyer is prepared to pay today and releases the capital invested in the vessel. Age remains relevant to operating costs and remaining service life, but a young ship must still justify its place in the portfolio at its current market valuation.

Continued ownership therefore requires an investment case of its own. When a buyer places a particularly high value on future earnings, the owner can compare that immediate offer with the income it expects to earn by retaining the vessel. CMB.TECH’s willingness to sell modern Suezmaxes demonstrates flexibility over which individual assets it holds, even while remaining active in tanker shipping.

Strategic Buyers Are Influencing Asset Values

Saverys’ explanation of buyer behaviour adds another dimension. During the earnings call, he said some Middle Eastern operators were approaching tanker purchases strategically. Securing access to vessels capable of transporting their oil could take priority over the acquisition price. He also acknowledged that prices, although already very high, could rise further while buyers remained willing to acquire secondhand tonnage at those levels.

Different owners can assign different values to the same ship. A conventional shipping investor assesses expected charter income, operating expenditure, remaining life and eventual resale value. A company seeking to protect crude exports must also consider cargo delivery, supply continuity and the earnings of its wider business. Those requirements can support a willingness to pay more for immediately available transportation capacity.

For a seller, that creates an opportunity without requiring an exact forecast of the market peak. A transaction can make sense once the offer meets the owner’s return requirements. If prices subsequently rise, the seller has surrendered some potential upside, but it has also reduced its exposure to a later decline. The quality of the decision rests on the information available when it was made and the return achieved over the investment’s life.

Strong Freight Earnings, Growing Delivery Risk

CMB.TECH’s tanker outlook has shifted towards a stance described as positive but cautious. Its second-quarter presentation put the global orderbook at approximately 370 VLCCs and 250 Suezmaxes, equivalent to 32.6% and 29.1% of their respective existing fleets. These were the company’s estimates at the time of the results presentation.

Saverys said deliveries in 2026 remained relatively manageable, with a much stronger flow of new tonnage expected in 2027 and 2028. He described that approaching wave as a “tsunami”, estimating that the market could receive a new VLCC or Suezmax roughly every two days over those two years.

The caution coexists with very strong current earnings. CMB.TECH reported average spot TCE of $126,790 per day for its VLCCs and $123,405 per day for its Suezmaxes in the second quarter. Retaining some spot exposure allows it to continue earning freight income, while selected disposals realise the asset values supported by favourable market conditions.

Xinde Marine’s previous reporting examined the gap between these two horizons. Today’s freight market reflects available ships, trading patterns and cargo demand. Orders placed today become transport capacity several years later. Exceptional current profitability and rising future supply risk can therefore exist at the same time.

Scrapping also depends on commercial incentives. Saverys has expressed caution about expectations that shadow fleet vessels will rapidly disappear if trading conditions change, arguing that ships may find alternative employment. High earnings can extend the commercial lives of older vessels, making the pace of removals less predictable than their age profiles alone might suggest.

Selling part of the fleet before freight earnings weaken can reduce exposure to a simultaneous reassessment of ship values. Charter coverage offers another way to limit reliance on future spot rates. Together with retained spot capacity, these measures allow the company to distribute risk across different employment and ownership decisions.

Dry Bulk Provides Another Major Investment Choice

CMB.TECH’s disposal strategy also reflects the broader business it has assembled. The group completed its stock-for-stock merger with Golden Ocean on 20 August 2025, making large dry bulk vessels a more substantial part of its operating base. Tanker sales now take place within a group whose income and investment opportunities span several shipping markets.

Management has been more constructive on the outlook for large dry bulk carriers. At the time of the second-quarter presentation, it put the Capesize and Panamax orderbook-to-fleet ratios at approximately 17% and 14%. Its demand assessment also highlighted the development of longer-haul West African iron ore trades, particularly Guinea’s Simandou project.

The distance matters. Carrying iron ore from Guinea to China requires a considerably longer voyage than moving it from Australia to China. If longer-haul supply progressively replaces part of the shorter-haul trade, an unchanged cargo volume can absorb more vessel time. For an owner with significant Newcastlemax and Capesize exposure, the origin of the cargo can be as important as growth in the number of tonnes shipped.

Taken together, the group’s choices suggest an assessment of relative opportunity across sectors. High tanker valuations provide a reason to realise selected assets, while the expected development of long-haul commodity trades supports continued exposure to large bulk carriers. That exposure still depends on steel demand, mine development and wider economic conditions. A broader fleet expands the range of available choices; charter arrangements and debt management remain important to its financial resilience.

Different Businesses, Different Commercial Exposure

CMB.TECH applies different employment strategies across its divisions. Its large dry bulk fleet retains substantial spot exposure, while containerships are predominantly employed on long-term charters and chemical tankers also have significant contract coverage. The offshore energy business serves customers in both offshore wind and oil and gas. These arrangements give the group revenue streams with different durations and sensitivities to freight markets.

The approach matches the risk being retained to the opportunity management sees. Spot trading provides earnings flexibility, long-term contracts improve visibility, and vessel sales release capital. Charters bring their own considerations, including counterparty performance, contract terms and the market prevailing at expiry, but they can make financing and future expenditure easier to plan.

This gives diversification a practical role. When an attractive offer prompts the sale of a particular vessel, other businesses can continue generating income. Where future supply growth is a concern, longer contract coverage can reduce immediate exposure to spot market changes. The effectiveness of the combination depends on continuing to assess the returns and risks of its constituent businesses.

Linking Disposals, Debt Repayment and Investment

The use of sale proceeds is central to the strategy. In February, CMB.TECH disclosed that it had fully repaid the bridge loan originally raised to finance the acquisition of a large stake in Golden Ocean, with repayments made during the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. The company said strong markets and vessel sales would support lower leverage, a stronger balance sheet and shareholder distributions.

Its major newbuilding programme was also moving towards completion. The second-quarter presentation showed approximately $890 million of remaining newbuilding capital commitments, with around $770 million covered by committed financing and approximately $119 million still unfunded. The company expected operating cash flow and announced vessel sales to cover the remaining funding requirement. As shipyard payments are completed, management gains more flexibility over subsequent cash allocation.

Debt repayment reduces future interest and refinancing requirements. Completing existing newbuilding investments brings previously committed assets into operation. Distributions allow shareholders to receive part of the investment returns already realised. New projects must compete with each of these uses of capital and offer a sufficiently attractive return.

Acquisition discipline consequently matters as much as the price achieved on disposal. Strong shipping markets often coincide with expensive assets. Reinvesting sale proceeds immediately into higher-cost exposure could rebuild some of the risk a disposal had removed. Assessing CMB.TECH’s performance therefore requires attention to both sides of its investment decisions.

Realising Tanker Value While Building an Ammonia Business

On the same day that CMB.TECH announced Stella’s sale, another part of its longer-term investment programme reached an operational milestone. On 13 October, the 210,000 dwt ammonia dual-fuel bulk carrier Mineral Europa received 1,000 tonnes of green ammonia in Zhoushan, China, completing the world’s first commercial ship-to-ship green ammonia bunkering operation.

Xinde Marine attended and reported on the operation. The fuel originated from Energy China’s project in Songyuan, Jilin province, with Andefu organising transportation, storage and bunkering. CMB.TECH’s vessel supplied the actual marine fuel demand connecting those activities.

The relationship is supported by commercial and capital commitments. CMB.TECH had previously announced Chinese green ammonia supply and offtake arrangements, while its interim financial disclosures showed that it acquired a 25% interest in Jiangsu Andefu Energy Technology in January 2026. The company’s stated fleet plan envisages 21 ammonia-powered vessels by 2029: 18 bulk carriers, one containership and two chemical tankers.

Ships, fuel production and bunkering infrastructure have to develop together. A shipowner investing in new propulsion technology needs fuel to be available for actual voyages. Producers and logistics providers need credible demand before committing to storage and distribution facilities. Offtake agreements, equity investment and completed bunkering operations connect these requirements and move the project from vessel orders towards regular service.

At group level, tanker disposals, operating cash generation, debt reduction and investment in lower-emission shipping sit within the same capital allocation framework. Returns from existing businesses provide financial capacity for longer-term projects. Those projects must, in turn, demonstrate reliable operations, dependable fuel supply and commercial returns. Competitive delivered fuel costs will remain an important part of that assessment as more vessels enter service.

CMB.TECH’s decisions illustrate how a shipowner can maintain a long-term investment direction while remaining flexible over individual assets. Selling ships at attractive prices can create room to reduce debt, reward shareholders and support future investment. The next test will be the cash generated by the remaining fleet, the effect of new deliveries on freight markets, and the returns achieved on the capital released through today’s sales.