Canada has a new tanker owner. Ontario-based McKeil Marine has swooped for a pair of Turkish product tankers to go alongside its fleet of tugs, barges and general cargo ships.
Brokers report the Burlington-headquartered 62-year-old company has paid Istanbul-based Transal Denizcilik Ticaret $9m and $8.5m respectively for the two ice class tankers, Topaz-T and Turquoise-T.
The acquisition follows hot on the heels of another Canadian owner, Algoma, buying a similar sized product tanker called Ramira.
McKeil Marine is a well known name in Canadian maritime circles. The company delivers transportation and project service solutions across the Great Lakes, St Lawrence Seaway, Canada’s east coast and the Canadian Arctic.
The move into tankers comes at a time where the nation is seeking to beef up oil exporting infrastructure to match a forecasted growth in oil sales overseas.
A report from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers earlier this year predicted that led by oil sands production, total Canadian oil production is expected to increase to 5.6m barrels per day by 2035 – an increase of 1.4m barrels per day compared to 2017.
In its latest weekly report broker Zachariassen suggested other Canadian tanker owners are likely to emerge soon.
“With Canada producing significant amounts of oil and the country looking for ways to get its product to the markets, we may very well expect to see some more purchasing within this segment from this nation,” the German outfit mused.
