Maersk Tankers has taken over the running of four product tankers owned by Singapore’s Xihe Holdings, which is currently under judicial management.
Xihe Holdings and four of its subsidiaries, owned by Hin Leong founder Lim Oon Kuin and his son, were placed under interim judicial management at the request of major creditor OCBC in August and since then a string of sales have been made to pay back the company’s debts.
The vessels going into the pool are made up of three MRs and one 9,500 dwt vessel.
“We are pleased about the trust shown in us by Xihe and its lenders,” said Claus Gronborg, chief investment officer at Maersk Tankers. “We will increase the tradability of the vessels and harness our commercial and digital expertise to boost their performance, providing attractive financial returns to them and our existing pool partners.”
Maersk Tankers says the deal is in line with the company’s strategy of building scale through partnerships. It currently manages a fleet of more than 220 ships.
