Cheng Completes Deal with Louis Dreyfus, DVB Nedship

Fred Cheng’s new shipping company, Shinyo International, has purchased the 1998-built 43,000dwt bulk carrier Bara from Louis Dreyfus Armateurs SNC of France. The ship is chartered back to CETRAGPA (Louis Dreyfus) for a period of four years.

The transaction marks the first post-Golden Ocean acquisition by Cheng. It also reflects the core industrial shipping approach taken by Cheng over his twenty five years as a shipowner.

DVB Nedship Bank provided the mortgage finance for the acquisition out of the bank’s Hong Kong office. The ship will be managed by Univan Ship Management, also of Hong Kong.

Dagfinn Lunde, Chairman and CEO of DVB Nedship Bank stated, “ The transaction involves a quality ship, charterer, manager and owner and reflects the sort of work our global team, in this case Hong Kong under the leadership of Paul Chang, responds to quickly. We are pleased that Fred Cheng looked to us and know he will be successful.”

Cheng is also delighted that the ship is classed with Bureau Veritas, one of two classification societies of which he is a committee member, the other being the American Bureau of Shipping.