Danish owner Celsius Shipping has expanded its core stainless-steel chemical tanker fleet by splashing out close to $45m on two eight-year-old secondhand vessels — and it has ambitions to further its recent moves on acquiring bulker tonnage.

Celsius chief executive Jeppe Jensen confirms the company has purchased the Shin Kurushima-built, 20,800-dwt Mid Fighter (built 2008) from Norway’s Hansa Tankers and its investment partners.

A price of between $21m and $21.5m was reported on the vessel but Jensen said he could not comment on this.

The Celsius founder revealed that the company was also the buyer of the 19,999-dwt chemical tanker Sira (built 2008).

TradeWinds reported in June that the Japanese vessel had been sold by Klaveness Marine-led Norwegian KS (limited partnership) company Seminyak for $21.2m. At the time, UK-based Tufton Oceanic was named as the buyer.

Jensen says both Japanese-built vessels are natural fits in the company’s core stainless-steel chemical tanker fleet.

He adds that Celsius, which bought two bulker newbuilding resales from Chinese yards in May and July, is also looking at growing its embryonic dry cargo fleet and is currently looking at a couple more secondhand vessels in the supramax range.

Celsius has had something of a shake down in its fleet over the past 12 months, which has seen the company shed all its products tankers in a share swap related to Oaktree Capital Management’s buyout of Torm as well as cancel 16 Chinese newbuildings.

Fleet of 20 vessels

The Danish owner now owns 20 vessels. Jensen says these comprise 10 stainless-steel chemical carriers, two kansamax bulkers and a pair of ethylene carriers, which it operates in partnership with Odfjell Tankers, and six 17,000-cbm ethylene newbuildings on order at financially troubled Chinese shipyard Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering.

He says Celsius cancelled all 14 of the 24,000-dwt chemical tankers that the company had ordered at Nantong Mingde Heavy Industry in the wake of the Chinese yard’s collapse and received full settlement for these in May.

Celsius also shed two units of an eight-ship ethylene carrier order at Sinopacific on grounds of the late delivery of those ships. A question mark hangs over the remaining six vessels.

Asked what consequences the sale of the Mid Fighter to Celsius Shipping will have for Hansa, managing director, Magne Morken said: “We have such a big fleet now that we can handle if some ships come and some ships go.”

Hansa bought the Mid Fighter in August 2012 for $23m.

Chemical tanker company Hansa last year had a 50% increase — to 30 units — in the number of ships it operated.

Bergen-based Bjarne Rieber is putting seven stainless-steel tanker newbuildings into Hansa.