Sinokor looks to have made the most of the spike in tanker rates with a swift sale of a pair of VLCCs. Sources unveiled that the Korean company has obtained US$35m each for the VLCCs Plata Pioneer and Plata Sunrise, both built in 1999 in Japan.

The deal, if true, marks a very good one for Sinokor. It purchased the pair just over a year ago from SFI for just US$22.8m, giving the owner a 55% mark up in just 13 months.

VLCC rates have shot up this year, entering six-digit territory and becoming the strongest seen so far this decade.