Chembulk Tankers is to enter its entire chemical tanker fleet into commercial pools managed by Womar Logistics, it has been confirmed.
Womar will assume commercial management of the Chembulk vessels from its offices in Singapore, Houston, Rotterdam, Mumbai and a new commercial management office in Stamford, Connecticut.
Chembulk said that it is anticipated that the vessel transitions will commence at the end of March and will be completed during May 2020.
Several of the shipowner’s chartering and operations staff will move to Womar, but it failed to disclose if there would be any redundancies.
It said it will remain responsible for all its finance functions, corporate control and reporting, as well as full oversight and control of the technical management performance of its fleet.
It added that its office in Geneva would be “discontinued”, while those in Southport, Houston and Singapore will be “efficiently staffed accordingly for those functions”.
“Our commercial shift to the Womar chemical pools places our quality vessels in an established and growing revenue sharing platform, providing commercial efficiencies, logistics flexibility and a seamless continuation of the performance our customers expect from Chembulk vessels,” said chief executive Bart Kelleher.
“We are committed to delivering the greatest possible value to all our stakeholders, and we are working steadfastly toward completing this commercial partnership through a seamless and accretive transition.”
Jake Scott, Managing Partner of FDX, which acquired Womar in September 2019, said: “This is an exciting development for Womar as it demonstrates both our focus on growth and our ability to provide solutions for shipowners.
“With this deal, Womar establishes an important footprint here in Connecticut as we seek to expand into new markets.”
Chembulk, which is backed by private equity giant KKR and York Capital Management, has a fleet of 17 vessels owned and chartered-in chemical carriers in its fleet.
