Car carrier operator Wallenius Wilhelmsen has signed a multi-year shipping contract with an undisclosed South Korean construction machinery company and added two new vessels to its fleet.
In an Oslo Bors filing the company said that the new agreement – described as ‘significant’ by the Norwegian company – has a duration of three years, plus a two-year extension option and is valued at around $290m in total, based on expected volumes over three years.
The contract started in January 2024, with Wallenius claiming that the rates were in line with current market levels.
The contract includes Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s Reduced Carbon Freight Service which can, the company claims, reduce the customer’s Scope 3 CO2 and GHG supply chain emissions by approximately 20-25% through the utilization of biofuel.
In a separate statement, the car carrier operator stated that it, through its 80% owned subsidiary EUKOR, took delivery of the vessel Morning Camilla.
The 2009-built, 6,600-ceu vessel was bought using a purchase option under the long-term charter-in agreement. The purchase price is $30m, which according to Wallenius Wilhelmsen, is well below the assessed charter-free valuation of around $70m.
EUKOR also exercised and took over the 2006-built, 6,600-ceu Morning Cecilie during the fourth quarter of 2023. The purchase price was $10m, also under the assessed charter-free valuation of $70m. Combined, the excess market value of the two vessels is around $100m. The purchases were financed with cash on hand.
