South Korea’s Polaris Shipping has wasted little time exercising options for yet more very large ore carriers (VLOCs). Polaris, in the midst of a very significant fleet rejuvenation process, officially ordered ten firm plus five option 325,000 dwt ore carriers at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in September.
One month on it has already exercised the options at HHI, spending $397m for the extra five ships that will deliver by 2021 and be used to haul iron ore for Brazilian miner, Vale.
Polaris boasts one of the world’s largest fleet of VLOCs. However, the average age and condition came in to sharp focus earlier this year when one of its vintage ships – a converted tanker – sank in the south Atlantic and a number of defects were found to have dangerous defects. Polaris has sent earmarked a number of ships for scrap.