Norwegian shipping and tank terminal company Odfjell has signed a final agreement to acquire five stainless steel newbuildings and form a pool for fifteen 25,000 dwt chemical tankers.
The ships are a part of a newbuilding order of ten 25,000 dwt vessels with 24 stainless steel tanks, under construction at Chinese shipbuilder AVIC Dingheng.
The announcement comes on the back of a term sheet which Odfjell signed with Chemical Transportation Group (CTG) on June 16 to acquire the new ships and form the pool of vessels. CTG will continue to own the quintet, which will be placed in the pool commercially managed by Odfjell Tankers AS.
“We are pleased to announce that the transaction has now been signed and completed,” Odfjell said, adding that the first vessel from the batch will be delivered on July 14. The remaining four newbuildings will join their new owner in intervals up until May 2018.
The company earlier said that it will pay a price of USD 40 million per vessel upon delivery from yard.
Odfjell informed that the acquisition and the pool formation are expected to have a positive contribution on the company’s returns and “strengthen our position and competitiveness in the current state of the chemical tanker market.”