Apeejay Shipping plans fleet size expansion

Kolkata: Apeejay Shipping Ltd, part of the Rs 4,500-crore Apeejay Surrendra Group, proposes to augment its fleet size through acquisition of new builds.

The fleet size now comprises four vessels, all bulk carriers, totalling 2.33 lakh dwt. Orders have been placed for three more bulk carriers of 57,000 dwt each with Cosco Shipyard of China.

The vessels, Dolphin 57 design geared bulk carriers, will be built at Cosco’s Guangzhou shipyard, with deliveries spread between 2009 and 2011. The first vessel is due to be delivered in April 2009. The total cost of the vessels is estimated at $130 million.

Capt. S.S. Mahapatra, CEO, Apeejay Shipping, told Business Line that the company would continue to be in the market for acquiring the right types of ships. “Tonnage acquisition is an ongoing process,” he said, adding, “with the dry bulk markets expected to remain firm over the next three years or so, it is a good time to expand the fleet”.

More orders

He did not rule out the possibility of placing more orders with the same Chinese shipyard. “With Cosco, we’ve close business relations for ship repairs and dry docking for more than 10 years and we might work with them to expand the Panamax type of vessels in near future,” he observed. Negotiations were on, he added.

At present, the number of Panamax type vessels in Apeejay Shipping’s fleet is two — Suryavir (71,000 dwt, 1990 built) and Sridevi (65,000 dwt, 1977 built). The 30-year-old Sridevi may be due for scrapping soon.