Fleet expansion continues with 8 acquisitions
14th October 2016
We are pleased to report the acquisition of 3 Babycapes and 5 Post-panamax bulk carriers to supplement our owned fleet:
119,000 tdw, built 2011 – “UBC Onsan”
119,000 tdw, built 2011 – “UBC Ohio”
115,000 tdw, built 2012 – “Emma Schulte
96,000 tdw, built 2013 – “Oriental Angel”
93,000 tdw, built 2012 – “Tonic Sea”
93,000 tdw, built 2011 – “Tana Sea”
93,000 tdw, built 2011 – “Tango Sea”
93,000 tdw, built 2011 – “Tonda Sea”
In the Babycape segment, our London office usually operates around 30 vessels in our global network of trades. We like to have some owned vessels in every segment in which we operate to ensure we can provide our customers with the most reliable and flexible service.
The Babycape vessels were purchased from companies managed by Hartmann Reederei (Leer) and Thomas Schulte (Hamburg) they join three other Babycapes in our fleet which we bought in the summer. The 119,000 tonners were built at Sinopacific, China and feature an attractive cargo intake at 14.5 m draft, “Mewis” fuel saving ducts, ballast water treatment systems, as well as Korean built B&W main engines and auxiliary engines. The “Emma Schulte” delivered from Jiangnan, China in 2012. The three vessels have all completed their first Special Survey.
The “Nexter-95” type “Oriental Angel” was constructed in 2013 at Imabari and was bought from Japanese owners, whereas the other 4 Post-panamaxes were acquired from companies managed by NSC Holding (Hamburg). They were built at Taizhou Kouan Shipyard and Yangfan Shipyard in China, and feature Korean-built Hyundai-B&W main engines and auxiliaries. These four ships have also completed their first 5 year docking and will be taken over in the Atlantic within the next 6 weeks.
This means that over the last 12 months, we have purchased 17 second hand and resale bulk carriers for delivery between early 2016 and early 2017 at historically attractive prices.
In parallel, our newbuilding program will see the delivery of the 2nd Qingshan 63,500 tdw Ultramax vessel “Imme Oldendorff” later this month. In total we will have taken delivery of 13 “eco” newbuilding vessels during this calender year. The average age of our fleet is reducing and we are operating a more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly fleet.
