Ardmore Expands Fleet, Newbuild And Charters

Ireland-based specialist tanker company takes over two newbuild contracts and charters in two tankers from Hellespont Group

Ardmore Shipping Ltd, the specialist tanker company, today announced that it has taken over the contracts for two newbuild vessels from Hellespont Group and, in a separate deal, has agreed to charter in two vessels from Hellespont.
 
Ardmore, based in Cork, Ireland, has agreed to take over the newbuild contracts on two 17,000 deadweight tonnes (dwt) IMO II chemical tankers from Hellespont.  The two as-yet unnamed vessels are currently being built by Sekwang Shipbuilding in South Korea and delivery is expected in April and July 2012 respectively.
 
In a separate deal, Ardmore Shipping has agreed to charter two 2010-built 17,000 dwt IMO II chemical tankers from Hellespont - the Hellespont Commander and the Hellespont Crusader - for a one year period, with the option of a further year.  Both vessels will be entered into the Navig8 Brizo-8 chemical tanker pool for trade and commodity chemicals.
 
Anthony Gurnee, CEO of Ardmore Shipping Ltd, commented:
 
“We are very pleased to have taken on the contracts with Sekwang Shipbuilding for these two newbuild vessels, which will join our fleet next year, and with our charter agreement for the Hellespont Commander and the Hellespont Crusader.
 
“These deals are important steps towards realising Ardmore’s goal of owning and operating a high quality, modern fleet of chemical and product tankers.  At Ardmore, strong commercial partnerships are an integral part of our ethos and we look forward to working with Sekwang Shipbuilding and Hellespont, as well as maintaining our strong relationship with Navig8, where we are particularly pleased with their commercial performance and cooperative approach to vessel operations.”
 
The two newbuilds and two charter vessels will join the four existing vessels in Ardmore Shipping’s fleet: the Ardmore Centurion, Ardmore Seatrader, Ardmore Seamaster and theArdmore Seafarer.  Ardmore also has two newbuild vessels on order with SPP Shipbuilding in South Korea, expected to be delivered in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
 

Source:  www.ardmoreshipping.com