Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Marine Corporation is back in the secondhand market. It has just sold a 10-year-old ballast water system fitted tanker, the 49,500 dwt FPMC 24, for around $14m. A second ship has also been sold for scrap, a slightly smaller chemical tanker, named Formosa 8, built 25 years ago.
Fifty-one ship strong FMPC had stayed quiet for a couple of years, apparently satisfied with its sales efforts in 2019 and 2018. It then pruned its fleet, shredding 18 ships last year.
FPMC is the shipping arm of conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group, a diverse company featuring one of the world’s largest chemical companies in terms of sales under its wings.
Data compiled by VesselsValue lists 17 handysize chemical tankers, one panamax-sized tanker, two aframaxes, nine VLCCs and two LPG carriers in its tanker arm, while its bulker fleet counts 19 ships, of which 10 are capes.
