Expanding Indian owner Seven Islands Shipping has added to its fleet with an acquisition from Maersk Tankers.

Brokers said the company paid $8m for the 35,000-dwt Rita Maersk (built 2004), which has been renamed Feather.

The vessel was one of three Maersk Tankers ships that had been circulated for sale in recent weeks, together with the 36,900-dwt Maersk Etienne (both built 2004) and the 35,200-dwt Roy Maersk (built 2005).

Expanding fleet

In July, the Indian owner said it would take its investment in second-hand tonnage to $56.5m as it acquired its sixth and seventh ships in less than a year.

The company, backed by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa's Fairfax group, has been snapping up vessels from well-known owners as it seeks to reach 19 vessels.

It is known to have bought the 47,000-dwt Torm Amazon (built 2002) for $8.5m and Sovcomflot's 47,000-dwt Narodny Bridge (built 2003) for the same price.

But broker lists show it has also added three more tankers, and will soon buy two more.

The 46,000-dwt Abalone (ex Angelica N, built 1999) has been taken over from Ancora Investment Trust for $6.8m, while the 46,000-dwt Gallant (ex UACC Strait, built 2004) was purchased from Strait Tankers for $8.75m, Clarksons reported.

And in June, Seven Islands acquired the 11,900-dwt Pelican (built 1999, ex-Saehan Estrella), formerly controlled by Korea's SM Management, which is worth $4.76m, according to VesselsValue.

Two more were due to join

Two more MRs were set to join the fleet.

Last month, the Malaysian energy group ENRA made its debut in the tanker arena after buying another Maersk Tankers vessel.

The company said it had acquired the 37,000-dwt Maersk Edgar (built 2004) for $9.3m in cash.

The Kuala Lumpur-listed group, which controls an FSO, said: "The provision of cost-effective storage and offloading solutions to oil and gas fields is a core business."

Before that, Maersk Tankers snapped up a fleet of seven handysize product tankers from Malaysian shipowner AET, paying $93.5m in an en-bloc sale.

Both parties confirmed the deal for seven 38,000-dwt product and chemical carriers which were built by South Korean yard STX Offshore &Shipbuilding in 2009 and 2010. The vessels are IMO chemical-handling type 2 and 3 units.