May Buy News

Frontline will buy 10 Suezmax oil tankers from Trafigura in a cash and share deal worth up to $675 million, and may buy a further four vessels later, the two companies announced on Friday.The deal will allow Frontline, which is controlled by Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen, to boost its dividend in the time to come, the Oslo-listed tanker operator said."The structure of the transaction creates an immediate impact to our earnings at a time when we expect freight rates to increase significantly," Frontline Chief Executive Robert Hvide Macleod said in a statement.Trafigura will take an 8.5% stake in Frontline, valued at $128 million, and will receive a cash payment of between $538 million and $547 million.The vessels were all built in 2019 and have been fitted with exhaust gas clea

Southampton, United Kingdom: It has been quite a few years since I last touched down in the UK; longer still for a visit on a maritime business trip. And, I don’t cross 'the big pond' casually for one these events. This morning, Seawork 2019 in Southampton is not yet over but if the past two days have been any indication at all, then the entire event will be regarded as a rousing success for all involved.There is something for everyone here. I overheard one attendee refer to the event as the annual gathering of “the boys and their toys.” To be sure; almost every possible development, new idea, and the widest gathering of shallow draft workboats I’ve ever seen in one place, was mustered and on display in this compact venue.

The Q3 2017 tanker market is proving vexatious for owners still struggling with the effects of fleet oversupply. But in its latest monthly forecast, Maritime Strategies International (MSI) observes that changing trade patterns could help stabilize the market toward year-end and into 2018. With all-OPEC crude exports setting record highs in July, the cartel’s attempts at lowering production are clearly open to question. There was a reduction in flows from OPEC’s Gulf producers while China’s imports tumbled to seven-month lows in July.

Shanghai's Zhonggu Shipping may buy 3,398-TEU Stadt Aachen, that was up for sale for US$7.1 million, say local media reports. Zhonggu Shipping earlier stated that it plans to acquire a handful of vessels this year, all of which will start operations between June and August. The Chinese company announced in the middle of March that it has acquired two containerships from Singapore and Germany. Additionally, last month the company signed a shipbuilding contract with CSSC-affiliated Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard for the construction of a 2,500-TEU ship. Xia Guoqing, General Manager, Zhang Jiangang, vice general manager of Zhonggu Shipping, and Dai Jiming, president of Changhong International Shipyard, attended the contact signing ceremony.

India's largest private shipbuilding company ABG Shipyard is in talks with Privinvest Holding SAL to sell stake. A report says that Privinvest is expected to acquire up to 49% stake in ABG. A report in the ET NOW says both the companies entered into an exclusivity period for the transaction on May 29. Privinvest may get 3 board seats and new management to ABG Shipyard post the deal, says report. Privinvest Holding which has shipbuilding operations across the world is interested in picking majority stake in ABG Shipyard not only to have a presence in India but to also gain from its defence licence to build warships. This will be a much needed lifeline as ABG has been struggling to stay afloat a year after its Rs 11…

Oil imports from Iran at 220,000 bpd in year to March 31. U.S. pressured India not to raise annual Iran oil imports. India halted oil imports from Iran for the first time in at least a decade in March as New Delhi responded to U.S. pressure to keep its shipments from Tehran within sanction limits during the last month of negotiations on a preliminary nuclear deal. Iran and six world powers have ramped up the pace of negotiations this week ahead of the Tuesday deadline for reaching an initial accord on a final nuclear agreement. Both sides have warned it was crucial to overcome differences that could still wreck any chance at a deal.

McDonald's Holdings Co (Japan) Ltd has embarked on the emergency measure of only offering small-sized french fries to customers as a protracted labour dispute at U.S. West Coast ports has contributed to long delays in imports. The fast-food chain said it was importing more than 1,000 tonnes of frozen fries by air, which began arriving last Monday and had begun routing another 1,600 tonnes through ports on the U.S. East Coast which should begin arriving in late January. Those steps alone, however, are not sufficient to prevent a shortage. "Unfortunately without this sales restriction step, we would run the danger of running out of fries at some of our stores around the end of the year or beginning of the new year," said McDonald's Japan spokeswoman Kokoro Toyama.

Russia's Novatek may get funds from the National Wealth Fund for its Yamal LNG project before the year-end, a minister said, as part of government plans to support sanction-hit companies. Russia's No.2 gas producer, co-owned by an ally of President Vladimir Putin, Gennady Timchenko, was put on the Western sanctions list over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis, limiting its ability to raise funds in Western markets. The government has pledged to support sanctions-hit companies irrespective of their shareholder structure, using National Wealth Fund as one of the options. Under the plan, NWF may buy bonds issued by some of such firms.

Trading in preowned vessels continues to be a popular choice for many customers. Damen Trading facilitates the sale and purchase of both Damen and third-party vessels. Recent deals highlight how trading in vessels results in a win-win situation for buyer and seller. Under these arrangements vessels have been sold in Australia and bought by clients in Uruguay, U.K. vessels have gone to Zanzibar, Colombian vessels to Jamaica, with customers worldwide seeing the benefits of trading in.

According to a July 22 report from Bloomberg, General Maritime Corp., which just bought five supertankers, may buy more vessels amid low ship prices. Prices of five-year-old very-large crude carriers, or VLCCs, averaged $92.7m in the week ended July 19, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange. Prices were 43% lower than the record high of $162m reached in August 2008, though they have gained 20% this year. (Source: Bloomberg)

Waterfront Lifestyles International, a boutique maritime lodging company, is currently taking reservations for retirement condos on a mid-size cruise ship that will make monthly cruises to the Bahamas. Prices for individual condo cabins on the 300 ft Alegria range from $159,000 for a single room to a larger suite for $399,000 plus a nominal Resident's Care monthly fee which covers all the operating expenses of the ship including crew, staff, fuel, maintenance, insurance, three meals daily, port fees, the medical center, and housekeeping. A huge difference between a senior care facility and living on Alegria is that the residents actually own the ship. With the depressed economy the company realizes some seniors may have to put off retiring for a few more years.

The Board of Norsk Hydro ASA will at the company's Annual General Meeting May 11, 2004, ask for authorization to buy back shares. Under this authorization, the Board may buy up to 2,808,810 of the company's own shares in the market, over the 18 months period commencing May 12, 2004. Each share may be purchased at prices ranging from NOK 200 to NOK 700 per share. The Board will at a subsequent General Meeting propose to cancel the purchased shares, with a corresponding write down of the share capital. Based on an agreement with the Norwegian State, Hydro's largest shareholder, the Board will also propose cancellation of a proportional part of the State's shares. The State's ownership share will therefore remain unaffected by the buyback.

According to reports, Hudong Heavy Machinery Co. , may buy more shipbuilding assets from its state-run parent as it speeds up expansion to meet robust demand. Assets Hudong Heavy might purchase from China State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC) include a shipyard on Changxing island near Shanghai, Yang Jiafeng told Reuters on the sidelines of a shareholders' meeting. The facility, with annual production capacity of 4.5m deadweight tons, is scheduled to deliver its first two vessels before the end of the year. Last week, Hudong Heavy, originally a ship engine maker, obtained regulatory approval to purchase $1.59b worth of shipbuilding assets -- including Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co. -- mostly from its parent via a share placement deal. Source: Reuters

According to Bloomberg, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, may purchase tankers from Brazilian shipyards to export ethanol as the company moves to quadruple foreign sales of the biofuel. The ships would expand a plan to build 42 vessels for Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras's fleet of tankers as increased oil, gas and fuels production transforms Brazil from an energy importer into an energy exporter, said Sergio Machado, head of Transpetro, the company's transportation unit. Machado expects the first such ethanol tanker, which would likely be a 75,000 metric-ton, Panamax-class fuel tanker treated to resist the biofuel's corrosive effect on steel, to be built by 2011.

Shipping Corporation of India has sought government approval for acquiring more ships, according to a report on http://sify.com. SCI has sought approval for 2 Capesize Bulk Carrier, 6 Handymax Bulk Carriers, 2 container vessels of 4,300 TEU and 6 LR -1 size product tankers.

Carnival Corp. on Thursday said fiscal second-quarter profits dropped 8 percent, in line with expectations, as prices for sea vacations remained tepid. $0.34 per share, a year earlier. Industry analysts had forecast that Carnival, whose 45 ships dominate the $12 billion global cruise market, would earn between $0.28 and $0.33, according to a survey of 19 analysts by Thomson Financial/First Call. The analysts' median estimate was $0.30. Revenues were $1.08 billion, up from $875.1 million a year earlier, as Carnival added ships in a massive, sectorwide fleet expansion analysts partly blame for weak cruise ticket pricing. The slowdown in the U.S. economy is also dragging demand for cruises.