Samudera Continues Expansion In Industrial Shipping
Main board listed Samudera Shipping Line said it is continuing its investments in Industrial Shipping in order to develop the business. It's subsidiary Foremost Maritime has signed a new building agreement with Sumitomo Corporation of Japan on June 19, 2003 for the construction and purchase of a 2,850 deadweight fully stainless steel chemical tanker. The vessel shall be built by Shitanoe Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. of Japan.
The tanker is expected to be delivered in the 3rd quarter of 2004. The vessel shall be deployed to distribute various petrochemical products such as caustic soda, fatty alcohol etc., within the South East Asian region. With the expected addition of this tanker, Samudera's industrial shipping fleet, on owned and committed basis, would now comprise of 20 vessels: 2 product oil tankers, 10 chemical tankers, 1 liquefied petroleum gas carrier, 1 cement carrier, 3 coal carriers and 3 marine offshore support vessels.
During the signing ceremony Samudera COO Soebagjo Windoe said "we are very committed to expand our industrial shipping". He added that "through consistent and stable services, we position ourselves as reliable partners with our customers in handling their logistics issues of bulk cargoes. We are not limited to any particular commodity, as Samudera has adequate expertise to handle chemicals, oil, gas, coal, cement as well as operational expertise in marine off-shore". The Company says it will continue to explore opportunities to serve directly the cargo owners in each of these areas.
Samudera Shipping Line has its main business as a major regional player in the container feeder shipping business, serving the Middle East, Indian Sub-continent, South East Asia and the Far East market. Besides container shipping, Samudera is also engaged in industrial shipping, through its subsidiary Foremost. The Company says that diversification in industrial shipping is part of its strategy to spread business risks and to provide a stable flow of profits.