An order for two large LNG bunkering vessels in South Korea has turned out to be something of a coming-out party for a new tanker platform launched by industry veteran John Bassadone.
The order for one vessel plus an option for another at HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard is for the account of Hercules Tankers Management, a new shipowning platform created by Bassadone alongside his long-time marine fuels supply company Peninsula.
Bassadone discussed the background for the formation of HTM this week in an exclusive interview with TradeWinds.
HTM, which he said was “soft launched” in late 2023, comes to the market with 44 owned or chartered-in vessels, including the entire complement of tankers formerly in the fleet of Peninsula.
“We decided a couple of years ago that we needed to have a cleaner, stand-alone vehicle that’s a shipping company,” Bassadone said. “We’ve spent some time physically separating the vessel assets of Peninsula and into Hercules.
“We now have a proper structure with equity assets, a head of shipping and can handle chartering not just for Peninsula but for the market.
“Hercules will be working more with the market than with Peninsula. Probably 10% to 15% of what Hercules does is for Peninsula.
“We have aspirations to grow out the fleet. It has little to do with bunkering and is more about moving both clean and dirty cargoes, whether that’s fuel oil, gasoil, VGO [vacuum gasoil]. We’ll trade those vessels in the market.”
But it is a little different as to the order for more LNG bunkering vessels. Bassadone confirmed the TradeWinds report that the LNGBVs will be 18,000 cbm in capacity.
“It’s a Hercules investment that will be chartered to and commercially operated by Peninsula,” Bassadone said.
The order follows good results from an earlier 12,500-cbm unit delivered from the yard almost a year ago. It has been named Levante LNG.
Beyond the order just disclosed, HTM has no additional options outstanding at the yard, he said.
A history around shipping
While Bassadone is just 48, he has been around the bunkering business for nearly 30 years, having founded Peninsula just out of school at age 19.
He hails from Gibraltar, where a family business involved in service to shipping was founded by his grandfather and then run by his father and uncles.
In 1985, his father bought a business from Exxon that offered machine-based hull cleaning from customers including the US Navy.
His father also forged contracts with Spanish oil company Compania Espanola de Petroleos, commonly known as Cepsa, for operations in Gibraltar.
Bassadone said he was living in London when he founded Peninsula. He has grown the business from supplying about 75,000 tonnes in the first year to about 18m currently, with 21 offices around the globe.
Peninsula has been focused since 2012 on building out its supply chain with an emphasis on logistics control.
Starting with smaller product tankers, it moved into larger vessels for its owned and chartered fleet. A dedicated chartering desk was added in 2022, with HTM the logical extension.
HTM is growth-minded, Bassadone said, but with a conservative approach and an understanding that Peninsula’s requirements provide a basis to “derisk” the operation.
“It allows you to get into ships and invest and have a fallback position,” he said.
The largest tanker currently is the 63,400-dwt LR1/panamax HTM Defender (built 2008), which was acquired in April.
Asked about priorities by tonnage type, Bassadone said HTM could be in the market for an aframax as it suits Peninsula’s needs, in addition to handymaxes and maybe another panamax.
There may soon be word of some previously undisclosed additions to the fleet that incorporate updated technology aimed at reducing emissions.
“We are looking to grow — I don’t want to use the word ‘aggressively’ — but I’d say we are in growth mode,” Bassadone said.
