Thome Ship Management is set to take over the management of two vessels: Bow Santos in late April; and Bow Harmony during the first half of May.
The primary reason for the change is that these vessels belong to relatively simple vessel classes where the vast majority are managed by external management. In our fleet, they have been “single-tonners” without any sister ship benefits. Because of this, the daily operational cost for these vessels has been in excess of the market average.
The change will give us a temporary surplus of crew. This is solved through an agreement with Thome where a majority of our crew (except those necessary to change for matrix purposes) are allowed to complete their contracts before signing off. We had a similar arrangement when the five regional trading vessels of the former Fleet Asia were transferred, and the transition proved to be smooth and successful. As before, the affected crew will be gradually phased back to the Odfjell pool after completion of their contracts.
Our core activity is the management of supersegregators, the world’s most advanced stainless-steel parcel tankers. Management of these vessels is a core competence within Odfjell and it is a task which will never be exposed to external management. We presently have eight such vessels under construction and within the next quarter we will start to line up the crew and prepare our shore organization for the delivery of the first newbuilding from Hudong Shipyard in China this July.
If it turns out that the past year was indeed a turning point for the market, we are certain that with all these changes that strengthened our fleet, we are well positioned to meet the industry’s demands and generate value for our customers.
Harald Fotland
Chief Operating Officer
