The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. (SCI) continues its vessel acquisition spree with orders for 4 Panamax Bulk Carriers placed on 13th August, 2008 with STX Shipyard. SCI has selected STX shipyard for building these vessels through global tendering process. SCI also has 6 LR-I size Product tankers and 6 Handymax Bulk carriers on order at STX shipyard and the current order shows the commitment of the two organizations to work for mutual prosperity. The vessels would be built at the shipyard’s state of the art shipbuilding facility at Dalian in China.

These vessels would be of higher capacity in the Panamax size range with 80,655 DWT each compared to the conventional Panamax vessels of 75,000 dwt, enabling the company to carry more cargo per voyage. In the bulk carrier market, these larger Panamax bulk carriers are also referred to as “Kamsarmax”. The name “Kamsarmax” is derived from the world’s largest bauxite loading port of Kamsar in Equatorial Guinea.

SCI presently has 20 bulk carriers in its fleet out of which some vessels would be due for scrapping soon. The vessels ordered now would be delivered to SCI during 2012 and would thus enable SCI to partly replace some of the vintage handymax bulk carrier tonnage and enhance SCI exposure in the larger segment of Panamax trade.

The dry bulk transportation market has been passing through a boom phase with freight rates peaking to unprecedented levels in history of shipping. China and India are the major drivers of the growth in this trade. Fundamentals of these economies are very strong and outlook for dry bulk trade remains positive. SCI would be able to cater to this growing trade with the new vessels upon delivery. SCI has further plans to augment its bulk carrier fleet by ordering Capesize bulk carriers in the near future. This move would further strengthen its position as a dominant player in the Indian shipping sector and also help the company to emerge as a strong player in the bulk segment.

SCI has embarked upon a major fleet acquisition plan and with signing of this contract, has 32 vessels of 1.44 million GT on order. This include all types of vessels, i.e. crude oil carriers including 2 VLCCs, product tankers, dry bulk carriers, cellular container vessels and offshore supply vessels. Total investment for these projects would be over US $ 1.8 billion (about Rs. 7,900 Crores). SCI has further plans to place order for another 42 vessels in the next 3-4 years and some projects are already in pipeline.

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