Brokers report that four ships owned by Germany's Konig & Cie, and managed by Mercator Navigation, have just been offloaded. The four handysize tankers fetched US$45.3m in total.

The ships sold are the three Hyundai Mipo-built, 37,000dwt King Ernest and King Edward, built in 2004, and the similar sized King Everest, built in 2001, and the Guangzhou-built, 38,000dwt King Emerald, built in 2004.

Last year, the same outfit sold 15-year-old, 37,300dwt King Eric.

One report notes that the buyers are rumored to be private equity firm S1 Capital.