Danish shipping company Norden has signed a three-year contract of affreightment (COA) with Qatari chemical firm Qatar Vinyl Company, a subsidiary of Qatar Petrochemical Company.
Scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2019, the agreement is for the shipment of salt from West Coast India to Qatar, where the salt will be used for chemical production.
As informed, the contract entails shipment of approximately 500,000 tons annually of salt during the contract period. The transports will be carried out about once a month on Supramax vessels.
Norden said that with the new contract it would be able to further optimize the logistical planning while expanding its activities in the Middle East.
“The contract increases our flow of tonnage into the Arabian Gulf, which allows us to further grow our activities in the region, in line with our continued growth plans,” Jan Rindbo, Norden CEO, commented.
According to Norden, long-running cargo contracts are vital for further growth within its dry cargo business and in line with the company growth strategy.
“With the agreement, we are growing our presence in the Middle Eastern region, enabling us to position vessels across the load and discharge port regions, where they can be deployed to fulfill other contracts,” Adam Nielsen, Head of Industrial Bulk responsible for the COA business within dry cargo business in Norden, explained.
Norden operates 249 dry cargo and 60 tanker vessels, with some units owned and others chartered. In addition, the company has a total of six ships on order, data on Norden’s website shows.