Chemikalien Seetransport (CST) has sold its 20-year-old, 73,900 dwt LR1 tanker London Star to Chinese interests, cutting the Hamburg owner's LR1 fleet to a single vessel after ten disposals in two years. The New Century-built ship has already been renamed Tenyou, according to sales registers.

The disposal leaves CST with one other 20-year-old LR1 on its fleet list, the Constellation. The Krämer family-backed company has been steadily reducing its direct ownership exposure to vessels in recent years, while maintaining its position as a technical and commercial shipmanager.

London Star was registered under Norwegian shipowning company Partankers XXIV AS, in which Krämer interests hold a significant shareholding.

Why are owners selling ageing LR1s now?

The sales come amid increasing activity in the LR1 segment, with owners taking advantage of firm secondhand tanker prices. For CST, the exits concentrate on ageing tonnage — both remaining LR1s were 20 years old at the point of sale.

The pattern is not limited to Hamburg. Last week, Odfjell-family-linked Larine Tankers was reported to have sold its two 2016-built LR1 product tankers, Bluebird and Starling, for a combined $110m — roughly $55m per ship — clearing out its entire existing fleet.

The buyer in that transaction has yet to be formally identified. Brokers have pointed towards UAE interests, although Turkish buyers have also been mentioned in market talk, with some sources suggesting Yasa Holding could be considering a return to the secondhand tanker market.

For charterers and product traders, CST's shift matters less as an owner exit than as a signal of where management capacity is heading: the company keeps its technical and commercial management platform intact even as it lets go of direct vessel ownership.

If secondhand LR1 values hold at current levels, further sales of 20-year-old tonnage by European owners look likely in the coming months.