Heidmar News

The cost of chartering a supertanker to load Middle Eastern crude oil for Asia has rebounded from a 19-month low in September, but industry sources expect output supply cuts, led by Saudi Arabia, to cap freight rates for the rest of the year.The world's benchmark very large crude carrier (VLCC) export route from the Middle East Gulf (MEG) to Japan, known as TD3, rose to W50.46 on Monday in the Worldscale measure of freight rates, LSEG data showed. It fell to W35.60 in September…

Greek commercial ship management company Signal Maritime Services and tanker vessel trader Heidmar join forces to deliver commercial management to the global tanker market.Both companies have agreed a milestone partnership, under which Signal will manage a joint tanker fleet using its proprietary technology and analytical approach, said a press release.Signal’s Artificial-Intelligence-backed solution to pool management has consistently delivered superior earnings to its pool members since its launch in 2018.Commercial management of 18 Aframax vessels in Heidmar’s Sigma Pool will be handled by Signal with immediate effect, with a transition period of one month.Signal will also be working with the Heidmar team to manage the LR2 vessels in its Sigma Pool…

The shareholders of the dry bulk shipping company based in Athens, Greece, DryShips,  voted in favor of the proposal to authorize and approve the previously announced agreement and plan of merger with SPII Holdings.SPII, a company controlled by DryShips’ chairman and CEO, George Economou, would acquire the outstanding shares of common stock, USD 0.01 par value, of the company that it does not already own for USD 5.25 per share in cash, without interest.In connection with the completion of the transaction, the DryShips’ common stock will cease to trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market and will be delisted.Evercore acted as financial advisor and Fried…

Connecticut-based maritime finance company FDX Offshore has acquired Singapore’s tanker pool operator Womar Logistics. Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) advised FDX Offshore on its acquisition.The partnership intends to expand its chemical tanker pools as well as initiate and grow independent pools in other classes of ships.FDX is led by Managing Partner Jake Scott and Partner Andy Tuchman who will both become Womar board members. Formed in 2013, FDX has been providing financial advice and capital sourcing to maritime and energy projects.Incorporated in early 2009, Womar began as a 50/50 joint venture between Heidmar and other investors. In April 2014, BW Group acquired Heidmar’s 50% stake in Womar.

Oil prices settled 2.2% higher on Thursday after attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman stoked concerns of reduced crude trade flows through one of the world's key shipping routes.The attacks near Iran and the Strait of Hormuz reignited worries about an impact to flows from the Middle East if insurance companies begin to reduce coverage for voyages through the region and additional shipping companies suspend new bookings, analysts said.Such a disruption "could further exacerbate the supply problem…

Oil tanker owners DHT Holdings and Heidmar have suspended new bookings to the Mid-East Gulf, three ship brokers said, following suspected attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday.DHT has a large fleet of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) and Heidmar has a wide range of oil tankers.

DryShips, the Nasdaq-listed company controlled by Greek shipowner George Economou, has completed the acquisition of 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Heidmar, a global tanker pool operator.The diversified owner and operator of ocean going cargo vessels said in a press release that prior to the transaction, it indirectly owned approximately 49.8% of Heidmar.As part of the transaction, DryShips acquired the remaining approximately 50.2% of Heidmar currently held by other unaffiliated entities, for an aggregate consideration of approximately $17 million. The transaction was approved by the independent directors of the Company.

Maritime Blockchain Labs has announced the real-world testing phase for technology solution that enhances traceability and trust in bunker fuel supply chain. Maritime Blockchain Labs (MBL), a partnership set up between Lloyd’s Register Foundation and BLOC to explore the use of blockchain for the assurance and safety of critical infrastructure and drive new business models for the global maritime industry, announced today that its first demonstrator project, a fuel provenance register for the maritime sector that aims to provide trusted information about fuel origin…

Singapore-based FSL Trust Management (FSLTM), as trustee-manager of First Ship Lease Trust  announced a new pool agreement for the two LR2 vessels, 2006 built and each 109,672 DWT, FSL Piraeus (ex-Torm Margrethe) and FSL Perth (ex-Torm Marie), which have recently returned from their bareboat charters and have now been renamed.The Trust has established a new business relationship with Heidmar as these vessels enter into the Sigma Pool.Heidmar Inc, founded in 1984, is one of the world’s leading commercial tanker operators with a fleet of approximately 80 ships, including VLCC, Suezmax, Aframax / LR2, and Panamax vessels.Roger Woods, Chief Executive Officer of FSL Trust commented: "We are delighted to be working along with a reputable and knowledgeable partner like Heidmar.

Heidmar Bunkering Services (HBS) has chosen ClearLynx’s Bunker Procurement Platform to manage its bunker buying process, end to end. HBS plan to go live with ClearLynx during August 2018 and anticipate a quick return through greater efficiencies within their procurement processes.“As a comprehensive bunker procurement, pricing and analytics solution, ClearLynx provides us with all the tools we need and more. We were particularly impressed with its’ ease of use, speed of implementation, third party integrations and the company’s attention to the security of our data,” said James Pippard, CEO, Heidmar Inc.Gerry Van Geyzel, CEO of ClearLynx added, “Heidmar is the world's biggest tanker pooling company.

Norwalk-headquartered tanker operator Heidmar has appointed James Pippard as its new Chief Executive Officer. James will oversee  the global footprint of the Company's five Pools, with offices in Norwalk, CT, London and Singapore. James is a respected and successful figure in the tanker shipping industry and during his 25 years at Teekay, he has worked in a variety of commercial management roles in Houston, Vancouver, London and Singapore and will be blending his experience into Heidmar’s pooling business to create  value for its partners and customers. "James joins us from being the SVP for chartering and freight trading at Teekay tankers where he was responsible for leading the global commercial trading of Teekay Tankers through its pools growth…

DryShips posted a net loss of $15.6 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2017, widening from net loss of $9.1 million a year earlier. However, its revenue went up to $16.38 million from $15.75 million over the same period. Its cash and cash equivalents stood at $77.2 million (or $1.14 per share) at the end of Q2, and book value of vessels, including advances, was $668.0 million (or $9.84 per share). As of August 29, 2017, following the closing of the Private Placement, the Company owns 49% of Heidmar Holdings LLC  pursuant to a joint venture with Morgan Stanley. Heidmar is one of the largest independent tanker pool operators worldwide, commercially managing about 100 vessels.

Nigeria's latest effort to combat theft could imperil its oil income lifeline, compounding the damage the crude price fall has done to its finances, access to dollars and imports. Oil traders and shipping brokers said a newly implemented "letter of comfort" requirement under which vessel owners must sign a guarantee that their ships will not be used for theft has made it more difficult and expensive to load Nigerian crude, putting some buyers off. A copy of the letter draft seen by Reuters asked vessel owners to "guarantee to indemnify" the government and national oil company NNPC against any illicit use of their vessel, which led some owners to reject pending bookings. Traders say others are refusing future requests for now.

Heidmar announced the promotion of Duncan Ross to Fleet Manager. Duncan joined Heidmar’s London office in 2012 as vessel manager.  Prior to joining Heidmar, he sailed on a number of vessels over a six-year period. Duncan will be responsible for overseeing the consolidated fleet operations of Star and Dorado as well as the new Marlin pool.

Heidmar and TBS Ocean are joining forces to form a dry bulk pool alliance. New alliance with TBS Ocean plan to combine two players’ operating strengths in geared bulker JV. TBS will continue as manager of a series of dry bulk pools, while Heidmar will provide its pool expertise, best practices, and proprietary commercial ship management software. Ben Ognibene, ceo of Heidmar commented, “For some time Heidmar has explored expansion into the dry bulk market. "TBS, with its global footprint, extensive cargo relationships, proprietary trading business and its 22-year history of exceptional and consistent dry bulk outperformance is the ideal partner to expand our product offering,” he added.

Conference organizers have announced the speaker lineup for the 21st annual Hellenic-American and Norwegian-American Chambers of Commerce conference, often called the New York Shipping Conference. Entitled “The Life of a Ship”, the conference will feature luminaries including Steinar Nerbovik of Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Ben Ognibene of Heidmar, Craig Stevenson Jr., Joseph Hughes of Shipowners Claims Bureau, Paal Johansen of DNV GL, and Angela Chao of Foremost Group . The event will be held on Wednesday, February 11 at the Waldorf-Astoria starting at 8:15 a.m. with conference registration and continental breakfast sponsored by DNB Bank ASA. The luncheon keynote speaker will be Sturla Henriksen, CEO of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, organizers said.

The SHIPPINGInsight conference producers have finalized the agenda and confirmed speaker list for the 2013 Fleet Optimization Conference, scheduled for Oct. 22-24 at the Sheraton Stamford Hotel in Stamford, Conn. “The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Connect and Engage,’” said conference co-producer Frank Soccoli. “We are bringing together an impressive lineup of speakers, moderators, panelists, sponsors, exhibitors and delegates representing all segments of the shipping industry. New for 2013 is an extra LNG Workshop, which will take the form of a roundtable discussion of experts to consider the barriers, challenges, solutions and best practices for achieving widespread adoption of LNG as a marine fuel. The workshop is free for all registered delegates.

So what’s keeping ship operators awake at night these days? Plenty, it seems. Sluggish recovery from a lingering worldwide recession, unsustainable debt loads, endemic overcapacity in most shipping trades, punishing freight rates, rising costs of fuel and regulatory compliance and a lingering sense that ships are not running as efficiently as they could. The last two topics – reducing fuel costs while complying with emission regulations and improving ship operating efficiency – will take center stage at SHIPPINGInsight 2014, scheduled for Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 in Stamford, Conn.

Heidmar reported the unexpected passing of Marc La Monte of Wilton, Connecticut. Mr. La Monte passed away while on a business flight in Europe on the morning of October 14th. La Monte was a widely respected member of the international shipping industry for 27 years. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Heidmar Inc. from April 2012. Prior to becoming CEO, La Montehad been the Managing Director of Heidmar’s VLCC tanker pool, Seawolf Tankers. La Monte spent 16 years at Overseas Shipping Group in various positions, including vice president of OSG’s LNG tanker business.

Heidmar’s Board of Directors. reacted swiftly to the untimely death of CEO Marc La Monte, appointing Ben Ognibene to the position of interim Chief Executive Officer. Ognibene became Heidmar’s COO in July 2013. That promotion followed a long and successful career at almost every level of the company’s Pool management business, during which time he worked closely with both Pool partners and more recently chartering clients. Ognibene started at Heidmar in 2004 focusing on the creation of Heidmar’s Aframax Pool, Sigma Tankers.

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk christened a larger, “greener” new research vessel on Friday, September 26 in preparation for launching a new era in examining, monitoring and teaching about Long Island Sound. The $2.7 million environmentally friendly research vessel, Spirit of the Sound, was christened and officially named during a ceremony at the Aquarium dock. Breaking a bottle on her hull was godmother of the boat, Astrid Heidenreich of Greenwich. The boat will reportedly be the first research vessel in the U.S. running on hybrid-electric propulsion.

The Board of Directors of Heidmar has announced the appointment of Hans van der Zijde as Heidmar's new Chief Executive Officer. Mr. van der Zijde graduated from the Nautical Academy of Rotterdam in 1985 and subsequently studied Maritime and Logistic Management there, graduating in 1992. Mr. van der Zijde has worked for and held management positions in leading shipping companies in Europe, South Africa and Asia. He has overall experience across most of the shipping segments, including tankers, and containers and short-sea. This experience extends to many aspects of shipping, ship husbandry, ship management, chartering and raising capital for asset plays. For the last five years, Mr.

Heidmar announced that Olivier Faurisson will join the company as Managing Director of Chartering and Marketing in the product sector. Faurisson has experience in product chartering and pool building. He rose to the title of General Manager, Products Division, during his 13 year career with Total Trading. At OMI Corporation he was the Head of Chartering & Business Development, in the Product Tanker Division. Most recently, he was Head of Chartering at Scorpio UK Limited. Faurisson will be based in Heidmar's London office.