Twenty newbuildings from our special friends in Japan
8th March 2008
Until last year, over a period of 15 years, we have received a total of 20 newbuildings from our friends at Saiki Heavy Industries Co Ltd., a subsidiary of Onomichi Dockyard, Japan.
The first series was the order for 6 x 22,000 tdw bulkers from 1992 until 1994, the second series was involving 10 x 32,000 tdw Open Hatch Box Shaped (OHBS) vessels and finally, we received 4 x 37,000 tdw OHBS vessels in 2006 and 2007. The latter were subsequently sold and bareboat chartered resp. time chartered back for up to 8 years with re-purchasing options. We have had a very close working relationship with Saiki and Onomichi, which has later developed into friendship and a lot of trust on both sides. Our building supervision teams have enjoyed the immaculate quality. The yard has delivered all ships ahead of schedule and has impressed us many times with their customer friendly approach.
Our trades have also benefitted from the deployment of the versatile OHBS units, which are often used in our bulk parcel and steel trades. These vessels are also perfect for carrying a full load of windmill towers and blades. Thanks to the quality workmanship of our Japanese shipbuilding friends, the cargoes have always arrived safely and in good shape.
