Danish shipping company TORM has signed an agreement to purchase eight second-hand MR tankers for $340 million.
As informed, the vessels have all been built at the South Korean yard Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in 2014-2015, and six of the vessels have been fitted with scrubbers. The cash element of this transaction will be financed through traditional bank financing, according to TORM.
The tankers are expected to be delivered during Q3 2024 and Q4 2024.
TORM also recently sold one 2006-built MR tanker for delivery in Q3 2024. The price tag of the ship is $23.3 million.
“We are pleased to once more announce a partially share-based transaction to acquire vessels. Since 2021, TORM has utilized partially share-based transactions to expand the fleet, even before the product tankers market took off. This model highlights the strong trust the sellers have in our One TORM platform and their firm belief in market fundamentals,” said Jacob Meldgaard , Executive Director and CEO.
As part of its fleet expansion efforts, in November last year, TORM purchased eight eco LR2 tankers. The deal that the company signed is worth $399 million.
During 2023 and in the first quarter of 2024 TORM has both increased the long-haul fleet and further improved the environmental profile of the total fleet.
By the end of April, the delivery of all the vessels was completed, thus significantly adding to TORM’s tonnage.
Following all the transactions TORM will have a total of 96 vessels.
The product tanker market encountered significant disruptions in early 2024 due to Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, leading to widespread rerouting away from the Red Sea.
Red Sea transits dropped significantly, particularly affecting the LR2 segment. These challenges drove elevated fleet utilization and volatile freight rates.