Newly formed tanker owner ADS Crude Carriers has been admitted to Oslo’s Merkur Market and will begin trading today.
ADS Crude Carriers recently raised $58m in equity capital from a wide group of investors and a further $30m in the form of a non-amortising debt facility. Its first move was to acquire VLCC trio Front Page, Front Status and Front Serenade from John Fredriksen’s Ship Finance International (SFI) last month for $77.6m.
SFI have also taken a 17% stay in ADS, a move is says is “an opportunistic financial investment” with limited downside.
ADS, headed by OSM founder Bjørn Tore Larsen, plans to upgrade the VLCCs with scrubbers prior to 2020.