Two tanker newbuilds christened
The newbuilds will join their sister ship Maersk Tangier (Photo: Maersk)
Both are 50,000dwt medium range (MR) vessels and join their sister ship Maersk Tangier, which was delivered in February this year.
The vessels are a part of a fleet renewal by Maersk Tankers, part of the Copenhagen-headquartered Maersk Group. In 2015 Maersk Tankers took delivery of the first two of ten vessels ordered from Sungdong Shipyard: Maersk Tampa and Maersk Tacoma. Within the next few years, the company says, approximately 20% of its fleet will be replaced with newbuilds already ordered, including nine MR vessels from Ningbo Shipyard in China. The vessels from Ningbo are expected to be delivered in 2017 and 2018.
“As part of our Taking Lead Strategy, we have increased our investment in the product tanker business in order to strengthen our fleet," said Claus Grønborg, head of business development at Maersk Tankers. "Besides the newbuild order book, we have also replaced some of our older vessels with second-hand vessels. We will continue our renewal of the fleet when we believe that the pricing is at an attractive level again. At the time being the price level is too high.”
Maersk Tankers has a fleet of 156 vessels – 82 vessels of its own, 24 T/C vessels and 50 vessels in pools.
