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Thoresen Shipping acquires secondhand supramax

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Thoresen Shipping Singapore has acquired a seven-year-old 54,880 dwt supramax bulk carrier, expanding its owned fleet to 17 ships and adding a ninth supramax-class vessel.

Purchased at current market rate levels, the addition of Thor Fearless follows earlier announcements of Thoresen Shipping's strategic plan to renew its fleet with efficient, modern and competitively priced assets, according to Thoresen Shipping.

Thor Fearless was built in November 2005 at Japan's Oshima Shipbuilding. The newly acquired vessel will lower Thoresen Shipping's average fleet age to 11.1 years.

“Today's acquisition is part of the on-going fleet renewal plan we announced last year, and shows we are delivering on our stated objective of acquiring modern and high quality vessels, while remaining responsible in a fragile recovery by not contributing unnecessarily to further tonnage oversupply,” said Ian Claxton, managing director of Thoresen Shipping, subsidiary of Thoresen Thai Agencies.

“Despite the challenging environment still faced by the industry at large, we have stayed focused on increasing our commercial activities globally and creating higher cost efficiencies. We are well positioned to capitalise once the industry begins to rebound, hopefully next year. In the meantime, while vessels remain advantageously priced, we will continue to explore the market for suitable opportunities,” he added.

Thoresen Shipping is scheduled to take delivery of its 18th newbuilding, 53,000 dwt Thor Breeze, in early July. The supramax bulker is the second of two newbuildings ordered several years ago from Ha Long Shipbuilding Company, a subsidiary of Vinashin Group.