Malaysia’s MISC is to merge its chemical tanker fleet with its subsidiary American Eagle Tankers’ (AET) product tanker fleet.
MISC currently operates 13 chemships and an LPG carrier, all of which are operated on long-term bareboat charters. AET will take over the MISC fleet and combine it with its own fleet of eight clean tankers.
Yee Yang Chien, MISC’s president and group CEO, said the additional capacity and flexibility would add value to the merged fleet.
“The integration will also allow us to continue to expand our customer base and develop a range of long-term partnerships in the sector. With growth forecast in the petrochemical industry, particularly in the US and Arabian Gulf, along with the current low oil price environment, we are confident that we will see a strengthening of exports and a higher demand for product tankers in the future,” the CEO said.
No changes will be made to vessels’ flag or classification society. MISC says it will continue to provide technical management for its former fleet.
“The CPP and chemical businesses share similar market drivers and are both poised for sustainable growth in emerging markets, it makes absolute sense to operate these ships as a combined fleet. An integrated fleet allows us to optimise and triangulate the three core chemical markets – organic, vegetable and special – and provide greater options and flexibility to our customers,” said Captain Rajalingam Subramaniam, president and CEO of AET.
“We believe we can achieve much higher vessel utilisation with a larger fleet by having access to a greater cargo pool as well as having the ability to secure opportunistic fixtures.”
