West Asia Maritime Signs $33.5M Deal with Mitsui

West Asia Maritime Limited (WAM) has signed an MoU of $33.52M deal with Mitsui & Co, Japan for taking a IHIMU, Japan built geared 56,120 DWT Bulk Carrier under Bareboat Charter with purchase option. The new vessel, which is to be delivered in 1st Quarter 2008, is chartered for 12.5 years and will be trading worldwide for the movement of dry bulk cargoes. This is the first time that an Indian shipping company has taken this route to control with an option to acquire ships. Under the proposed deal, WAM would be getting the vessel for a long period with minimal investment and also have purchase option. WAM can now buy the asset at any time during the charter period at a pre-determined price. WAM, promoted in 1993 by the $2.3B turnover (Dec 2004) Emirates Trading Agency LLC (ETA) Dubai, has recorded a steady growth over the past 5 years in dry bulk operations in India competing with global ship owning / operating companies. The company along with its Singapore based subsidiaries WAMOPL and WAMSPL owns and operates a fleet of 23 bulk carriers and 2 chemical tankers and moved 13.08mn tons during 2004-05. WAM and its subsidiaries have achieved a combined turnover of Rs9.97bn with a profit of Rs747mn during the financial year ended 31st March 2005. CAGR growth in terms of volume of cargo moved and turnover achieved for WAM and its subsidiary companies stands at 68.75% and 116.16% respectively.

An ISO-9001-2000 certified company, besides owning 3 Handymax Dry bulk carriers, the company also acquired 73,879 DWT Panamax bulk carrier and converted the same as a Self Unloader. The 2001 built Panamax Self Unloader is on 10-Year time charter with Tamil Nadu Electricity / Poompuhar Shipping Corporation Limited and operates in East Coast of India for movement of coal. The major part of WAM's income comes from the vessels it owns and operates. All the three handymax vessels are employed generally in spot market. WAM has also entered the bulk chemical business for movement of Sulphuric Acid, Phosphoric acid and Vegetable oil like Palm oil etc. The company also offers freight cover to major trading houses through its wholly owned subsidiary West Asia Maritime Overseas Private Limited (WAMOPL), Singapore by chartering vessels. The company charters over 60 vessels to meet its contractual obligations. WAM’s other subsidiary, WAM Singapore Pvt. Ltd. Singapore, caters to leading trading houses like Glencore AG-Zurich, OCP, Gujarat NRE, Cargill, Mosaic, Conagra, Reliance Industries, IFFCO, etc. Source: India Infoline