Wilbur Ross, the billionaire founder of WL Ross & Co., plans to add to his shipping investments as slowing growth of the global merchant fleet spurs an industry recovery as soon as next year.
Ross was among investors who bought a fleet of 30 tankers hauling gasoline and diesel two years ago in a $900 million transaction. His company also has a majority stake in Navigator Holdings, a major LPG carrier player.
“We’re going to do a lot more in shipping even than we have,” Ross said in an interview on Bloomberg Television recently.
“Shipping has a great oversupply of vessels that came from over-ordering a few years back. We think 2014 may be when it turns around.”
Expansion of the merchant fleet will slow to about 3.6 percent next year, the lowest growth since at least 2009, according to data from Clarkson.
“We’ve actually been quite happy with our shipping investments so far,” Ross added.