Greek ship owner and operator Byzantine Maritime Corp. has decided to enter the tanker market as it placed an order for an LR2 tanker at South Korean shipyard Daehan Shipbuilding, showed data from VesselsValue.

Featuring 114,900 dwt, the ECO tanker is scheduled to join its owner in 2017.

Byzantine Maritime, which ordered the vessel for US$45m, has an option for a second LR2 tanker at the same yard.

If exercised, the second ship would be added to the company's fleet in 2018.

The shipowner operates a fleet of 11 Supramax bulk carriers, each of which feature around 56,000 dwt.

Built between 2008 and 2014, the company's bulkers have a total market value of some US$145.2m, according to VesselsValue.