Apicorp (Arab Petroleum Investment Corp.) and the National Shipping Co. of Saudi Arabia is to create the world’s largest fleet of oil tankers and support the kingdom’s plan to boost crude exports. Apicorp is a multilateral energy-finance lender and the Saudi shipping company, known as Bahri, formed a $1.5 billion investment fund to add 15 very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, to the company’s planned fleet of 46 such vessels. Bahri, which merged its fleet with that of Saudi Aramco, owns 36 very large crude carriers and plans to add 10 more in the next two years. Apicorp will be the main investor and manager of the $1.5 billion Apicorp Bahri Oil Shipping Fund, with an 85% stake, while Bahri will own the remainder and serve as the 10-year fund’s commercial and technical manager.

China Cosco Shipping Corporation completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in the Port of Piraeus Port, the largest port in Greece, in early August. Cosco has operated two container terminals in Piraeus since 2009 under a 35-year concession agreement.

General Dynamics NASSCO has delivered the latest ECO Class tanker to its long-time customer APT, marking the American shipbuilder’s seventh ship delivery in just over a year. The 27,300gt tanker, Garden State (above), was delivered to American Petroleum Tankers during a special signing ceremony held on 25th July. The ship is one of three classes of ships delivered by the San Diego- shipyard since June 2015, and its seventh ship delivery overall.

Stena Bulk took delivery of the 29,666gt, 183m long, 32m beam and 50,000dwt MR tanker Stena Imagination from the Chinese shipyard GSI (Guangzhou Shipbuilding International) in July. The vessel is jointly owned on a 50-50 basis by Stena Bulk and Indonesian Golden Agri Resources (GAR) and is the seventh of a total of 13 IMOIIMAX tankers ordered by Stena Bulk. She will be operated by Stena Weco and sail in the company’s global logistics system, which currently employs about 60 vessels. In 2015 the Stena Impression, Stena Image, Stena Imperial and Stena Important were delivered followed by the Stena Imperative and Stenaweco Impulse earlier in 2016. The remaining six vessels will be delivered every third month with the last vessel expected in 2018. Three of the 13 IMOIIMAX tankers are wholly owned by Stena Bulk, six together with GAR (Golden Agri Resources), two by Stena Bulk’s sister company Concordia Maritime and two by Stena Weco.

Stolt-Nielsen Limited announced an agreement in July to acquire the chemical tanker operations of Jo Tankers for approximately $575 million. The transaction includes 13 chemical tankers and a 50% share in a joint venture for eight additional chemical tanker newbuildings. Eight of the existing ships have all-stainless steel tanks and range in size from 19,000 dwt to 38,000 dwt. The five other 37,000dwt ships have a combination of stainless steel and coated tanks. Six of the 13 ships have been on time charter to Stolt Tankers for the last five years. The newbuilds included consist of eight 33,000dwt all-stainless steel eco-friendly ships and are on order from New Times Shipbuilding in China, the first of which was delivered in early July 2016. The seven others are to be delivered in the second half of 2016 and in 2017. Stolt-Nielsen has also awarded the construction of two, with options for a further two, LNG tankers with 7,500 cubic metre capacity to the Singapore-based Keppel Offshore & Marine at a cost of $50m for deliveries from 2018.

Terntank of Sweden held a celebration and welcome ceremony in Rotterdam for its first 15,000 dwt chemical tanker with a dual-fuel twostroke engine, the 11,463gt Ternsund, on 8th August. The LNG-propelled product tanker’s maiden voyage began on 28th June when the vessel left the Avic Dingheng shipyard in China. The Ternsund sailed to Singapore to load cargo destined for Europe and discharged in Malta and in Rotterdam. The Ternsund is the first of four dual-fuel product tankers that Terntank ordered and will mostly be employed distributing refined oil products from NEOT’s refinery in Gothenburg.