The acquisition spree of the Shipping Corporation of India continues
In the past 48 hours, the government owned, Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. (SCI), India’s largest shipping company has taken deliveries of two Medium Range Product Tankers, m.t. Swarna Mala and m.t. Swarna Pushp. The acquisition was effected on 25th January & 27th January 2010 respectively.
According to the company’s spokesman, Gajanan Shetti, Deputy General Manager, m.t. Swarna Mala is the first ever resale vessel being acquired by SCI. “Though it was being built for another ship owner at the STX ship yard, the foremost shipyard of South Korea, SCI finalized the purchase deal with the original owner and took delivery of the vessel directly from the shipyard,” he said. “Hence the vessel is termed “Resale” and not as “Secondhand” purchase. Although SCI has acquired few secondhand vessels in the past, the numbers are very few. Addition of tonnage through secondhand / resale route has been after a span of over a decade.”
M.t. Swarna Mala, which is of 29,993 gross tonnes and 51,196.34 DWT, has been built to comply with the latest and most stringent international regulations. The vessel has been built to the highest standards of DNV and after acquisition by SCI the vessel has been dually classed with IRS. The vessel is a modified product tanker with IMO-II notation capable of carrying a wide range of products including vegetable oils as compared to a standard product tanker. As such the vessels will have more flexibility in operations.
The other tanker m.t. Swarna Pushp, has been built at the Jinling Shipyard, one of the shipyards of repute in China. (The first vessel of the series, m.t. Swarna Kalash was delivered to SCI in October 2009). This latest vessel has a gross tonnage of 29,845 tonnes and deadweight of 47,795.4 tonnes. Classed with LRS and IRS it has been built to comply with the latest and most stringent international regulations. Similar to its sister vessel, this ship has also been assigned with the special “Green Passport” notation, a safe & environmentally sound approach from building stage to recycling.
With the acquisition of the two MR Product tankers SCI’s fleet strength is now 78 vessels. Acquisition of these vessels is in line with SCI’s strategy of maintaining a modern and young fleet of vessels. The Company has 30 vessels on order at present and 12 of these are slated for delivery during 2010. SCI also has an ambitious plan to order additional 37 ships during the next 2 to 3 years.
Sabyasachi Hajara, CMD, SCI stated, “India as a nation is heavily dependent on import of crude oil and transportation of petroleum products along the coast and having product tankers under Indian flag provides vital energy security to the country. Energy transportation has continued to remain the core business segment for SCI and induction of these vessels in SCI’s fleet is expected to strengthen its position in the energy transportation sector.”