New York-listed Teekay Tankers has agreed to sell the only VLCC in its fleet for $84.5m in a deal that leaves the shipowner focused solely on suezmax, aframax, and LR2 tonnage.

The company said it has sealed a deal to sell its 2013-built VLCC tanker 319,000-dwt Singapore Spirit for $84.5m, which is expected to result in a gain on sale of $22.5m in the second quarter of 2026 when the vessel is expected to be delivered to the purchaser.

Last month the company also sold one 2007-built suezmax tanker and agreed to sell one 2009-built suezmax tanker for combined total proceeds of $73m, which is expected to result in gains on sales of $22.6m in the first quarter of 2026. The 2009-built suezmax tanker is expected to be delivered to the purchaser in the first quarter of 2026.

The company’s top management commented on the recent sales and acquisition moves, mentioning that it is continuing its fleet renewal plan: “Since reporting earnings in October 2025, we have acquired three 2016-built aframax tankers for $141.5m and we bareboat chartered the vessels back to the seller on short-term contracts with full commercial and technical management to be transferred to us upon redelivery in the second and third quarters of 2026.

“In addition, we also sold, or agreed to sell, two older suezmaxes and our only VLCC for combined gross sales proceeds of $157.5m. The combination of the sale and purchase transactions since the beginning of 2025 has reduced our average fleet age and improved our fleet profile, while also maintaining significant operating leverage to the strong tanker market.”

Teekay Tankers currently has a fleet of 35 double-hull tankers (including 16 suezmax tankers, 18 aframax / LR2 tankers, and 1 VLCC tanker), and also has three time chartered-in oil and product tankers.

Regarding the near-term outlook for the tanker market, the firm believes that it remains strong, driven by a combination of positive underlying tanker supply and demand fundamentals and various geopolitical factors which are driving trade inefficiencies and tonne-mile demand for the compliant fleet of tankers.

However, the longer-term outlook is highly uncertain, the company says, and will depend to a large extent, on how the various geopolitical factors currently supporting the tanker market develop in the coming months and years.