NORDEN Grows Its Tanker Fleet
Danish shipping company NORDEN said it has purchased a 2009-built medium range (MR) product tanker with a cargo capacity of 50,000 metric tons. The South Korean-built vessel is expected to be delivered in July 2017 and will be renamed Nord Pearl.
Taking advantage of the decline in asset prices on the back of weakening tanker markets, the purchase marks NORDEN’s first tanker acquisition since the company sold three Handysize product tankers last year.
In addition to the purchase of Nord Pearl, NORDEN informs it has entered into long term charter agreements for a further two MR product tanker newbuildings and has thus concluded four MR product tanker newbuilding charters so far this year. The vessels are scheduled to be delivered to NORDEN in the years 2018-2020. All agreements are with purchase options.
NORDEN CEO Jan Rindbo said, “NORDEN used the strong tanker market in 2015 and first half of 2016 to take cover. The increase in cover led to a decrease in capacity for 2017 and onwards, but in the wake of the weakening market, NORDEN has taken advantage of the reduced tonnage prices to increase our capacity and exposure at attractive cost levels. We can do this in the comfort of having an excellent product tanker operating arm in form of Norient Product Pool, and benefit of the premium earnings that they generate.”
At the end of first quarter of 2017, NORDEN’s tanker fleet consisted of a total of 36 vessels – 25 MRs with a cargo capacity of 45,000-50,000 metric tons and 11 Handysize vessels with a cargo capacity of 35,000-37,000 metric tons. Of the 36 vessels, 19 tankers are owned by NORDEN while the rest are chartered vessels. The vessels are operated through Norient Product Pool (NPP).
