Finland: ESL Shipping Sells Its Oldest Ship MS Hesperia

ESL Shipping Ltd, part of Aspo Group, has sold its oldest ship, m/s Hesperia, for approx. EUR 3.3 million.

The transaction was concluded yesterday, June 25, 2012. A sales gain of approx. EUR 2.4 million will be recorded in the profit for the second quarter. The sale of m/s Hesperia, built in 1991, is part of the fleet renewal in ESL Shipping’s strategy. ESL Shipping took delivery of two new 1A ice-strengthened Supramax vessels in January and May 2012.

“The environmental directives to be adopted in 2015 affect our fleet renewal plans. We decided to give up our oldest vessel, since Hesperia’s use in the Baltic Sea area would have required substantial environmental investments. We understand the ice-strengthened vessel will operate in the Russian Far East,” says Aki Ojanen, CEO of Aspo.

All ships of ESL Shipping sail under the Finnish flag. After this transaction, the company’s fleet consists of 17 vessels, 13 of which it owns in full. Two are time-chartered, one is bareboat chartered and one is partially owned. The total dead weight capacity of the vessels is approximately 310,000 tons.

ESL Shipping transports dry bulk materials, mainly in the Baltic Sea region; in 2011, approximately 13.3 million tons. The cargo mainly consists of ore, coal and limestone. The steel industry’s share of transports was 60 percent, and the energy industry represented 30 percent.