Norden has taken over four distressed newbuilding contracts at STX Offshore & Shipbuilding of South Korea in a bid to boost its fleet of product tankers.
The Danish tanker and bulker owner says it expects the 49,000-dwt vessels to hit the water in the first and second quarters of 2013. The deal includes pair of options for two additional units.
In the past, Norden’s expansion strategy focused on second-hand acquisitions but it told investors that more favourable deals can be made by taking over and upgrading technical features of newbuilding contracts in default.
It noted: “Another important factor for Norden has been that vessels from STX are of high quality and are therefore expected to be priced favourably in the second-hand market. In addition, the time of delivery is attractive as Norden expects an improvement in rates and asset prices in the product tanker market until 2013.”
Norden expects the medium-range vessels to earn rates of around $12,000 per day upon delivery.
The company did not say how much the new vessels cost, but brokers say that similar units are fetching between $35m and $40m in the current market.