Doha: Vela Marine International sold the VLCC Vega Star to The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) for SR323.7m ($86.3m) in cash on October 2nd.
The two companies agreed a merger deal in June to merge, in which Bahri will acquire the VLCC fleet and operations of Vela, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco. Vela’s fleet comprises 15 VLCCs, of which 10 (including Vega Star) have so far been transferred to Bahri. Bahri is paying a total of SR4.88bn for the whole deal, of which SR3.12bn will be paid in cash and the rest in equity, according to a Tadawul filing yesterday.
The first Vela VLCC was transferred to Bahri on July 21st – the effective date of the long-term contract of affreightment through which Bahri becomes the exclusive carrier of all Aramco VLCC-sized crude oil cargos sold on a delivered basis. [03/10/14]
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