Stena Bulk, Sonangol Suezmax Pool Reinforced

Stena Bulk and the Angolan oil company Sonangol strengthen the Stena Sonangol Suezmax Pool with the addition of a further two ultramodern tankers.

“These tankers will be added to the pool, which is fully controlled by Stena Bulk and Sonangol. The pool now has a total of 18 tankers and there will be 30 tankers at mid 2012 as our ultramodern newbuildings continue to be delivered,” said Ulf G. Ryder, CEO and President of Stena Bulk.

The M/T Mare Doricum was added to the pool in January 2011, followed by M/T Mare Picenum in February. Both these 158,000 dwt Suezmax tankers were built at Samsung Shipyard in South Korea in 2009. Their owner is the well-reputed Italian shipping company Fratelli d’Amico Amatori, which owns and operates a fleet of 11 crude oil tankers. Stena Bulk already has chartered in three Aframax tankers (110,000 dwt) from Fratelli d’Amico Armatori.

Stena’s close collaboration with the state-owned Angolan oil company Sonangol began in 2005 and is now in its seventh successful year. The average age of the vessels in the pool is only 3.5 years.

“The pool has long been one of the foremost when it comes to earnings, compared with both the index and competing pools. We are now consolidating our lead still further by adding several new and environmentally friendly tankers,” said Ulf Ryder.

Stena Bulk’s offices in Houston, London, Singapore and Rio de Janeiro are responsible for operating and chartering the tankers in the Stena Sonangol Suezmax Pool.

The collaboration between the two companies also includes comprehensive further training of Sonangol employees both at sea and in Stena Bulk’s network of offices around the world. A new and modern maritime academy in Angola is yet another part of this collaboration.