Danish carrier of refined oil products Torm is resuming its shopping spree with a purchase of two high-specification MR resale vessels.
The two 50,000 DWT vessels are currently under construction at the Korean yard Hyundai Mipo and will be delivered to Torm later this quarter, the company said.
The product tanker company added it already has 12 Hyundai Mipo vessels in the fleet and has good technical and commercial experience with these vessels.
The latest purchase makes a total of six MR vessels Torm bought for USD 185 million during the third quarter of 2017. In addition, the tanker company has further newbuilding options for ten product tankers.
“I am pleased that Torm’s strong capital structure allows us to act when we see attractive opportunities to grow the fleet. With these two MR resales delivering in Q3 2017, we have acquired a total of six new high-quality product tankers over the last few weeks. We believe that asset prices are at a cyclical low and that our purchase prices are attractive. Therefore, the timing is right for growing and renewing our fleet,” s ays Executive Director Jacob Meldgaard .
To remind, two weeks ago Torm bought four MR resale vessels from Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) with expected delivery in 2019. Under the deal, the company has an option to buy up to four additional MRs with expected delivery in late 2019.
As of today, Torm has CAPEX commitments of USD 312 million covering the remaining CAPEX on the company’s four LR2 vessels with expected delivery in 2017 and 2018 and six MR vessels with expected delivery in 2017 and 2019. TORM’s undrawn credit facilities and cash today amount to approx. USD 467 million, the company further noted.
The product tanker owner operates a fleet of approximately 80 vessels.