London maritime shipping company Borealis Maritime Ltd and Nordic Tankers revealed on November 5 their plan to found a jointly held company, Crystal Nordic AS, specializing in the short-sea, ice class chemical tanker trade in the Baltic and North-Western European market.
Crystal Nordic AS will be owned by Embarcadero Maritime and Nordic Tankers and it will take over the respective ice classed stainless chemical tankers businesses from its owners, which currently operate under the Crystal Pool Ltd and Nordic Tankers trade names.
Image: miranda reiffers te loo
According to a joint press statement, all other Borealis Maritime and Nordic Tankers operations and ventures are unaffected by the new partnership.
Crystal Nordic AS will control a fleet of fifteen 4,000–11,400 DWT stainless steel ice class 1A/1B chemical tankers, totaling close to 100,000 DWT and performing in excess of 600 voyages yearly.
The new partnership is subject to approval by the competition authorities. However, once approved, the new company is expected to commence trading in the first quarter of 2016.
Borealis and Nordic said that combining their fleets will enable Crystal Nordic AS to obtain significant operational efficiencies in the form of reduced ballasting and idle days, improved utilization of capacity, and enable new voyage combinations.
“This new partnership is one of the first consolidations in the European chemical tanker market for some time. It is a further step in our strategy of reaching critical mass in order to provide a better service, reliability and flexibility for the customers while at the same time developing and expanding the business further. Crystal Nordic will have a strong shareholder base and team in place with a core focus on operation, safety and quality,” said Frederik Rye-Florentz of Borealis Maritime.
Crystal Nordic AS will be an integrated shipping company with its own board, commercial and operations teams. The company will be incorporated and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is expected that several of the Crystal Pool staff will join Crystal Nordic. Jan Eghøj will be appointed Managing Director of Crystal Nordic, currently Vice President, Operations at Nordic Tankers.
Crystal Nordic AS has secured competitive bank financing from ABN Amro Bank, Oslo Branch, and “will have a solid equity ratio and strong liquidity position from its inception which will offer long-term capital to support the long-dated nature of shipping assets.”
Source: worldmaritimenews.com