Track record — file closed
Sea Scan 1
Bought from the Portuguese State at auction. Refitted in Setúbal. Delivered to Nigeria. Covered by the national press.
This is the deal we point to when someone asks how the house works. A ship the State could not sell for four years; a price we believed in when nobody else did; a modest refit; and a buyer on another continent who put her straight to work. Every number below is on the public record.
Type
Tug
Built
1985
Bought at auction
€255,000
Refit
≈ €30,000
Delivered to
Nigeria
The file
From seizure to service, step by step.
- 01
Seized at sea
January 2019The Portuguese Navy intercepts Sea Scan 1 some 300 km south-west of Cabo de São Vicente with 2,430 kg of cocaine aboard — a street value the press put at €125 million. The crew are convicted in 2020; the tug is forfeited to the Portuguese State.
- 02
Four years alongside
2019 – 2023The State tries repeatedly to sell her at online auction from a base price of €923,000. No buyer comes. The tug waits alongside in Setúbal.
- 03
Bought at public auction
Late 2023Gradual Perfection studies the file, values the ship on her merits, and wins the State auction at €255,000 — our own capital, no client order behind it.
- 04
Refitted
2023 – 2024Around €30,000 of repairs and reinstatement in Setúbal bring a laid-up tug back to a working ship.
- 05
Sold and delivered
January 2024Sold to an oil-exploration client in West Africa — price under NDA. She sails on 20 January, arrives in Nigeria without incident, and enters service.
The ship
Sea Scan 1, on camera.
Interim archive imagery via MarineTraffic (© respective photographers) — being replaced with the house's own photographs.
In the press
Don't take our word for it.
“The company participated successfully in the auction, acquiring the ship.”
Cátia Falardo — CEO, to Jornal de Negócios
Have tonnage to sell, or a requirement to fill? This is the desk that closed this file.
