Stolt Tankers Acquires 7 Tankers for $255M

Stolt Tankers, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stolt-Nielsen, has acquired seven parcel tankers from different owners for a total of USD 255 million. Two of the tankers, 37,437 DWT and built at STX Europe’s yard in Florø, Norway, in 2000 and 2001, respectively, have been bought from Odfjell. The units will be renamed Stolt Focus and Stolt Commitment.

Stolt Tankers has also acquired three Japanese-built parcel tankers from an undisclosed buyer. Of these, two measure 23,400 DWT and were built in 2009 and 2008, respectively. The third vessel, 19,700 DWT, was built in 2006. The ships will be renamed Stolt Bobcat, Stolt Ocelot and Stolt Serval, respectively.

In addition Stolt Tankers has exercised purchase options under existing time charters to acquire the 33,000 DWT vessels Stolt Glory and Stolt Strength built in 2005. According to Sea-Web the owner is Nisshin Shipping, Japan..

”Following the cancellation of our eight-ship order in Korea, the addition of these ships to our fleet, in combination with the recent time charter arrangement with JO Tankers, effectively meets our current needs for tonnage”, says Stolt-Nielsen CEO Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen.

Photo courtesy of Stolt Nielsen