Of the two vessels taken delivery of by Great Eastern Shipping and its subsidiary, the VLCC was handed over to its buyer whereas the Anchor Handling Tug cum Supply Vessel joined the fleet of Greatship.
Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd. (G E Shipping) along with its subsidiary Greatship (India) Limited (GIL) took delivery of two vessels on 6th January 2012. The two vessels included a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) and an Anchor Handling Tug cum Supply Vessel (AHTSV). Whilst the GIL (the subsidiary company that takes care of the offshore activity) is on an expansion mode, the principal - G. E. Shipping - has put all future acquisitions on hold.
The 318,000 dwt Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) “MANEKLAL UJAMSHI SHETH” from Hyundai Heavy Industries Ltd, (HHI) South Korea which G. E. Shipping took delivery of was subsequently delivered to its new buyers on the same day. This vessel is one of the 3 VLCCs which the Company had ordered at HHI in April 2010 and subsequently contracted to sell the same in Q1 FY12. The remaining 2 VLCCs will be delivered to the buyers between February and April 2012.
A spokesman of G. E. Shipping informed that the company has a non-disclosure agreement and hence he was not unable to identify the buyer. However, the other two VLCCs would also be delivered to the same buyer. “There is no expansion envisaged in the near future.” he confirmed. “Nor any fleet replacement expected, as the average age of our fleet is of 8.9 years.”
The Company’s current fleet stands at 34 vessels, comprising 24 tankers (9 crude carriers, 14 product carriers, 1 LPG carrier) and 10 dry bulk carriers (1 Capesize, 3 Kamsarmax, 1 Panamax, 4 Supramax, 1 Handymax) totaling 2.62 million dwt.
The 150T Anchor Handling Tug cum Supply Vessel “GREATSHIP VIDYA”, which GIL took delivery was from Drydocks World-Singapore Pte. Ltd., Singapore. It is a Class II DP vessel equipped with Fire Fighting Capability and has been built complying with the new SPS Code 2008, capable of supporting offshore exploration and production.
With the delivery of “GREATSHIP VIDYA” GIL and its subsidiaries currently own and operate four PSVs, eight AHTSVs, three MPSSVs, three ROVSVs and two jack up rigs. GIL and its subsidiaries also have an order book of five vessels - one MSVs in India, three ROVSVs in Sri Lanka and one 150 TBP AHTSVs in Singapore and one 350 feet jack up rig in Dubai.
GE Shipping is India’s largest private sector shipping company. The company’s major businesses include shipping and offshore. The shipping business includes transportation of crude oil, petroleum products, gas and dry bulk commodities, while the offshore business caters to the oil companies in carrying out offshore exploration and production activities, through its wholly owned subsidiary Greatship India Ltd.