Indian shipping company Essar Shipping Limited (ESL) has added to its fleet Mahavir, a Panamax bulk carrier.
The 74,005 dwt vessel, previously known as Jun Jie, was bought from China’s Fujian Ocean Shipping for USD 4.8 million in January this year, according to information provided by VesselsValue.
As disclosed, Mahavir will be deployed for transporting cargo from Essar Steel’s pellet plant in Paradip to the steel plant in Hazira.
Commenting on the acquisition, Ranjit Singh, Executive Director & CEO of Essar Shipping , said: “This acquisition is in line with our strategy to find cargo before acquisition to ensure full utilization of the vessel.”
Built at Japanese Imabari shipyard in 2000, Mahavir will replace Chandi Prasad which was decommissioned last month.
With the latest addition, ESL has a fleet of 14 crude and bulk carriers with a total tonnage of 1.6 million dwt and an average age of 12 years.
In 2016/17 fiscal year, ESL reported 22% growth in cargo handling, whereas its capacity utilization grew to 94% from 80%.