Omega Navigation Enterprises and Topley have signed up for a 50-50 partnership equal joint venture company named Megacore Shipping. Both companies owned by Omega and the Glencore group respectively have chosen to continue their shipping contract agreements with Hyundai Mipo – bringing the total of 10 new building 37,000-dwt product/chemical carriers across to the companies owned by Megacore. The order, however, has been revised, making it two 37,000-dwt product/chemical tankers and seven 75,000-dwt product/oil tankers. Apart from this, one MR1 vessel remains pending and is in the pipeline as a future option for Megacore.
George Kassiotis, President and CEO of Omega, said: “We are very pleased to have entered this joint venture with a very strong partner and thus reinforce the already strong relationship with the Glencore group. The joint venture will have access to Glencore’s global trading network and system cargoes and ST Shipping’s commercial chartering experience and will enable us to deploy collectively with our partner a fleet of vessels with significant scale and geographic coverage. This off balance sheet structure and revised delivery dates has enabled the company to shore up its balance sheet and be better able to face these challenging economic times. Megacore gives both Omega and the Glencore group a very strong platform to build upon going forward.”
Company sources stated that the original delivery schedules of the vessels had been amended. The initial schedule was for eight vessels in 2010 and then two in 2011. Now however, with the amendments coming into play, three vessels are scheduled for 2010, four in 2011 and two vessels in 2012.
