Germany’s John T Essberger group has purchased the entire fleet of rival UCT.This will add six 2004-2005-built 8,600 dwt stainless steel chemical tankers to Essberger Tankers’ chemical tanker fleet.
All the vessels will be delivered and renamed, taking the Essberger suffix, over the next two months, one at a time once they are free of cargo.
The deal also includes the vessels’ contract portfolios - coas. All of these contracts cover the carriage of chemical parcels between Europe and the Mediterranean. Although Essberger Tankers is already a player in this area, this position will now be considerably strengthened and expanded, the company said.
Essberger also took delivery of the newbuilding 5,300 dwt ‘Johann Essberger’ on 16th March. She was built at Eregli and flies the Portuguese/Madeira flag. 'Johann Essberger' is an ice-class chemical tanker with 12 stainless steel tanks.
Eregli will deliver the next two vessels of this type, the ‘Ursula Essberger’ and the ‘Elsa Essberger’ by August and November 2011.
The later two will be operated by the JTE office in Dordrecht under the Dutch flag.
Earlier this year, Essberger Tankers recently sold a number of older chemical tankers.