zoomImage Courtesy: MISC

Malaysia International Shipping Corporation (MISC) Berhad is to merge its chemical fleet with the clean petroleum products (CPP) fleet operated by its wholly owned petroleum subsidiary, AET, the company said.

Under new arrangements, AET will take over the 13 chemical vessels and one LPG tanker currently owned/operated by MISC and combine them with its own fleet of eight CPPs to create a new, single entity.

“There are significant synergies to be gained from merging the two fleets and creating a consolidated products business. Our chemical and CPP fleets have many customers in common and this merger enables us to offer them added value through additional capacity and flexibility,” MISC President/Group CEO, Yee Yang Chien said.

“With growth forecast in the petrochemical industry, particularly in the US and Arabian Gulf, along with the current low oil price environment, we are confident that we will see a strengthening of exports and a higher demand for product tankers in the future”, he added.

The new arrangements involve transferring MISC’s seven “Bunga A” class vessels (38,000 dwt) which are owned by the company along with six “Bunga L” class (19,900 dwt) and one LPG vessel (20,613 dwt) which are all currently operated on long-term bareboat charters. These vessels will combine with AET’s eight CPP tankers.

MISC said that there would be no changes made to the flag or classification society and that it will continue to provide technical management for the chemical tankers and LPG vessel.

“An integrated fleet allows us to optimise and triangulate the three core chemical markets – organic, vegetable and special – and provide greater options and flexibility to our customers. We believe we can achieve much higher vessel utilisation with a larger fleet by having access to a greater cargo pool as well as having the ability to secure opportunistic fixtures,” Captain Rajalingam Subramaniam, President & CEO of petroleum subsidiary, AET, commented.

MISC Berhad, a subsidiary of Petronas, has a fleet of 25 LNG carriers, 82 clean and crude petroleum vessels, 13 chemical ships, 1 LPG tanker and 13 offshore floating facilities. Together, this fleet moves around 9% of the global LNG requirement.