George Economou-backed Heidmar has tasked Signal Maritime Services with hiking earnings in a new tanker management deal.
Ioannis Martinos-run Signal will use its artificial intelligence approach to handle the US pools company's vessels.
The two sides said the aim is to deliver high-performance commercial management to the global tanker market.
They described the deal as a "milestone partnership" that will see Signal manage 18 aframaxes in Heidmar’s Sigma Pool with immediate effect.
Signal will also be working with the Heidmar team to manage the LR2 vessels in its Sigma Pool, the suezmaxes in the Bluefin Pool and the VLCCs in the Seawolf Pool.
The vessels within these pools will remain within their existing structures, but benefit from access to Signal’s capabilities, the companies said.
Launched in 2018, Athens-headquartered Signal Maritime Services claims to offer "internet-age advanced analytics and management methods".
First working partnership
Signal told TradeWinds that Economou and Martinos have known each other for a long time, but this is the first time they have worked together on a deal.
"Mr Economou has been following Signal's progress since inception. The deal is about consolidation and high-impact technology, two themes that have been 'top of mind' for entrepreneurs in shipping for a while," the company added.
"Leveraging Signal's flexible and analytical approach to commercial pool management over the extended asset base that the combined aframax fleets represents made a lot of sense to both sides."
The agreement allows Signal a wider scope for application and continuous improvement of its technology and overall pursuit of flexible, high-performance offerings in the pooling space, it said.
"At the same time, the agreement makes the Signal Pool one of the major operators of aframax vessels worldwide, which strengthens the value proposition for both chartering clients and pool participants," it added.
And more deals are being worked on.
It said: "We are generally on the lookout and in the process of developing further partnerships that can help us accelerate or extend the reach of our technology-oriented approach in shipping and related business domains."
Vessel departures
Heidmar said it now has a fleet of about 50 ships, which also includes panamax tankers, owned by 20 clients. Three years ago that number was more than 100 across the VLCC, suezmax and aframax pools.
Other ships have left in recent months.
The Navig8 group confirmed in October it was taking over commercial management of eight Ridgebury Tankers suezmaxes previously in the Bluefin pool.
TradeWinds had earlier reported that three Ridgebury suezmaxes were leaving, along with four VLCCs currently entered in the Seawolf VLCC pool by Zodiac Maritime of the UK. The Zodiac defections have yet to be confirmed.
Heidmar shareholder George Economou said: “Digitalisation and consolidation are a theme of today’s market and a necessity to provide relevant and superior customer service.
"The pooling business is highly competitive and we believe the combination of Signal’s technology with a sizable fleet will provide the right mix for a successful pool.”
Martinos excited
Martinos added: “We are excited to join forces with Heidmar and look forward to bringing a stronger and better service to the market through this collaboration.
"Signal has delivered leading performance since its launch in 2018, through a highly driven team and an expertly-used technology solution. We are confident that the combination of the Signal team and our technology will continue delivering a strong performance for all our pool partners.”
Further information has been sought from Signal on the deal.
In October, UK shipbroker Simpson Spence Young (SSY) teamed up with the Signal group to launch new "high-impact" technology services for commercial bulker management.
The strategic partnership will see both companies invest money to offer data-driven solutions to chartering professionals, they said.
Signal has also been a major partner in the development and commercial release of a technology solution for oil traders, called OilX.
