Sinotrans & CSC plans to place an order for two medium-range (MR) tankers with options for another two at Guangzhou Shipyard International, which will be bareboat-chartered to the group’s subsidiary Nanjing Tanker.
The newbuilds will renew Nanjing Tanker’s old MR tanker fleet and adjust the fleet’s uncompetitive vessel types, a stock filing of Nanjing Tanker said on 22 September.
The new vessels will be bareboat-chartered to Nanjing Tanker on a five-year term charterparty. The company will acquire the vessels for USD10 million each after the charterparty expires.
The MR tanker fleet has become the company’s first largest fleet since the end of its restructuring in 2014.
As of the end of March 2015, the company operated 65 vessels with an aggregate capacity of 2.76 million dwt, comprising MR tankers, chemical tankers, and LPG and LEG carriers.
In the first six months of 2015, Nanjing Tanker returned to the black with a profit of CNY269.2 million (USD43.4 million) because of reduction in finance cost, lower bunker fuel cost, and pick-up in the oil shipping market.
The company was delisted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange in June 2014 after posting four consecutive annual losses from 2010 to 2013.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.