Swedish Firms Order Up to 10 Fuel-efficient Tankers

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday January 22, 2013

Stena Bulk and Concordia Maritime have ordered up to 10 chemical tankers with fuel-efficient features that could reduce costs by $3,000 to $5,000 per day, according to shipbuilding consultant Seabay.

The two Swedish companies will have the 50,000 dead weight tonne (dwt) ships built at Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) in China.

"To challenge today's fierce competition within the tanker segment, we must invest in the higher end of the market," said Ulf Ryder, managing director of Stena Bulk.

"These ships will have an outstanding competitive edge both in the edible oil, chemical, and in clean tanker markets."

The newbuildings' fuel advantages will include new hull lines and specially designed propellers.

Stena Bulk will receive four of the tankers starting in spring 2014, while Concordia Maritime - as the company previously announced - plans to get two of them at the end of 2014 or the start of 2015, and the two companies have a total of four options for additional ships.

Concordia's spending on its two ships amount to SEK 550 million ($78.9 million).

Condordia has said it plans to employ the vessels in the open market through its partner Stena Weco, a joint venture between Stena Bulk and Danish Dannebrog.