Hafnia/BW Tankers Create Product Tanker Giant
The merger of BW Tankers with Hafnia Tankers is being operationalized creating one of the world’s largest owners and operators of product tankers.The merged company owns and operates a fleet consisting of approximately 100 product tankers, four newbuildings and three product tanker pools, managed by Hafnia Management and Straits Tankers with vessels in the LR2, LR1, MR and SR segments.BW Tankers will be the surviving legal entity, but it will change its name to Hafnia, said company sources."All the conditions for the Merger have been fulfilled, and the Articles of Merger have been filed with the Registrar of Corporations of the Marshall Islands authorities, meaning that the Merger is effective as of 16 January 2019.
Merger Creates $1.65B Tanker Giant
Greek shipping company Capital Product Partners has agreed to spin off its crude and product tanker business and merge it with the tanker businesses owned by DSS Holdings.The $1.65 billion transaction involving 68 tankers is expected to create the third largest publicly traded MR and product fleet in the world, and one of the world’s largest public mixed product and crude fleet operatorsThe new company, to be called Diamond S Shipping Inc., will be a market leader in the crude and product tanker markets, benefitting from a balanced and large-scale portfolio of vessels, strong management leadership and a cost-efficient commercial platform.DSS…
Sovcomflot IPO Soon
The long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) of Sovcomflot, which runs one of the world’s largest tanker and gas carrier fleets, has moved a step closer. Economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev was quoted by local Russian news agencies as saying that the government might get around RBL24bn ($357m) roubles from selling a 25% stake in the nation’s top line, Sovcomflot. He said the IPO would happen this year. The Russian state-controlled tanker giant was waiting for investor sentiment to turn before embarking on its listing. The shipping line has more than 100 tankers in its fleet including crude and LNG plus nine bulk carriers. A listing has been on the cards for the Sergei Frank controlled company for a number of years.
The Year in Review
The last 12 months has been one for the books ... or the trash. There was no shortage of government inducements to turn the lackluster tide in 2012—stimulus spending in China and Japan, quantitative easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve, and multiple actions by the European Central Bank to strengthen the Eurozone. But as the year evolved, weak macroeconomic fundamentals decisively trumped monetary policy initiatives and continued their choke on global commerce, hence the maritime sector.
Aframax Rates Are Collapsing
After more than a week of slow trading, Aframax tankers (70,000 tonners) are piling up in the Caribbean, sending rates crashing by over 35 cents per barrel in the last 48 hours, said brokers in the U.S. and Oslo. "It's just fallen through the floor," a U.S. broker said. But Oslo brokers said on Friday morning that one ship from the fleet of U.S. tanker giant Teekay had been fixed lower, at W170 ($1.21 per barrel), for a Phillips cargo to the U.S. Gulf. Another had been fixed at W160 to Exxon for the longer journey to Halifax, Canada. This compares to levels of about W225 ($1.60 per barrel) on Wednesday, and over W300 ($2.13 per barrel) a month ago.
