Oman Shipping Company Buys Ultramax Pair

OSC’s CFO and acting CEO Michael Jorgensen; Image Courtesy: Oman Shipping Company

Muscat-based Oman Shipping Company has signed a deal to acquire two Ultramax vessels, the company revealed.

According to the Times of Oman, the two ships are 2015-built SBI Taurus and 2014-built TR Omaha, which are set to join OSC’s fleet in April and May 2020, respectively.

The two ships are valued at around USD 17 million each, data from VesselsValue shows.

With the latest acquisition, OSC has built up its fleet capacity to 55 ships.

The company said that the fleet expansion is being pursued to meet increasing customer demand for bulk shipping solutions.

Oman Shipping announced fleet growth plans early in 2019 following the order of three very large crude carriers placed with South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).

Two scrubber-fitted VLCCs from the series are scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2020 and one in 2021.

In particular, the state-backed shipowner said last year it was readying investments in the bulk and container market.

Over the past year, OSC has been busy on the fleet-financing front, having secured a USD 80 million Shariah-compliant “Ijara” loan with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) and a USD 110 million ship financing deal with banking and financial services company Standard Chartered.

The funds were assigned for financing of the company’s previous ship investments as well as supporting the company’s other expansion plans.

OSC is a closed joint-stock company, majority-owned by the Governorate of the Sultanate of Oman through Asyad Group.

The company started out as an LNG shipper, before expanding into the tanker, bulker, multipurpose and container shipping sectors.