Concordia Orders Tanker Tonnage with Highest Ice Class for Fortum

Today, Concordia Maritime signed an agreement to participate on a 50/50 basis in a consortium, which will own two Panamax product tankers built to Finnish/Swedish ice class 1A specifications and ordered by Concordia Maritime. A 10-year time-charter agreement has been signed with the Finnish energy group Fortum. The vessels, which will be named Stena Polaris and Stena Poseidon, will transport primarily Fortum's refined products from the Baltic Sea to the North American market. The tankers will be built at the Brodosplit shipyard in Croatia where six ice-strengthened Stena P-MAX product tankers are currently being built for Concordia Maritime. The new tonnage has been developed in close collaboration between Brodosplit, Stena Teknik and Fortum. Delivery will take place in 2006 and at the beginning of 2007. The Stena Polaris and the Stena Poseidon will have a deadweight of 75,000 tons, a length of 228 m and a beam of 32 m. They have been specially designed for traffic in difficult ice conditions in the Baltic Sea. The bridge, as in the case of the MAX tankers, will be built according to Stena's "co-pilot" design with a 360° view for enhanced safety in narrow waters. The vessels will have full double hulls, i.e. a double hull protecting not only the cargo tanks but also the fuel tanks and lube oil tanks. The total contract price for the two vessels is approx. SEK 700 million. Concordia Maritime's president, Hans Norén, says: "Our business is based on developing competitive transport solutions in close collaboration with our customers. Our investment in shipping in icy waters is not a new move for us. Solid experience lies behind the new tankers now under construction which enables us to offer safe, economical and reliable transportation in our region. We are very satisfied with our collaboration with the Brodosplit shipyard, which has resulted in this new business deal. Today, Concordia has 8 tankers with a high ice class on order at the shipyard. Together with Stena Bulk, we will be one of the leading operators of ice-strengthened tonnage in the large-tanker segment for the Baltic Sea".