Russia: Sovcomflot Acquires Four New Product Carriers

Sovcomflot (SCF Group) agreed a further joint project with Glencore International AG to own, operate and manage four coated LR1 type product tankers (74,000 tonnes DWT). The vessels “SCF Plymouth”, “SCF Pacifica” and “SCF Pearl” built in 2011 at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co (South Korea) will immediately be managed by the joint venture.

The fourth vessel, “SCF Prudencia” will be delivered from the same shipyard at the end of February 2012. The design of all vessels incorporates all the latest requirements in terms of environmental protection, energy efficiency, crew accommodation and safety.

The technical management of all the vessels will be performed by SCF Unicom Singapore – a part of SCF Group. The commercial management of the vessels will be performed by the joint chartering teams.

Evgeny Ambrosov, Senior Executive Vice-President of OAO Sovcomflot, noted: “This is the next stage of our joint ownership project with Glencore for product tankers, which started in 2010 when Sovcomflot and Glencore formed a joint venture and entered the LR1 product tanker segment with five newbuildings. The project is in line with SCF Group’s Strategy for 2011-2017, and strengthens the position of Sovcomflot in the developing markets of oil products transportation, primarily in South-East Asia and Russia.”

Richard Prince, Deputy Head of ST Shipping (a subsidiary of Glencore), noted “We are very pleased to have expanded our partnership with SCF. It brings together the strength and reputation of SCF’s shipping capabilities along with our experience of commercially operating tankers and our cargo base.”