The Stena Sonangol Suezmax Pool is turning 15 years old in 2020, and there are no signs that its partners are looking to break up the venture.
The joint venture of Angolan oil company Sonangol and shipowner Stena Bulk of Sweden has a fleet of 21 suezmaxes that have an average age of 9.2 years. All but one of the ships in the operation are controlled by the two partners.
Pools generally make less financial sense in moments when tankers are experiencing strong spot rates, as they are now.
But Stena Bulk CEO Erik Hanell said the average rate for the pool ships in the fourth quarter was as high as $50,000 per day.
Strong performer
He claimed that the pool's tankers perform better than those of its shipowner peers like Nordic American Tankers, Frontline and Euronav.
“The pool managed to survive during the strong years leading up to 2008 and also in 2015, and I think we are well-positioned to continue to develop,” Hanell said.
When Stena Sonangol turned 10 years old in 2015, the company announced a goal of reaching 30 ships by the end of that year with a third pool partner coming in.
But Stena Sonangol suffered a setback when Teekay Tankers announced a $662m deal to buy 12 modern suezmaxes from US-based Principal Maritime. TradeWinds reported at the time that Stena Bulk was in the final round of bidding for this fleet.
Prior to setting up Stena Sonangol, Sonangol's tankers were commercially managed by Oslo and New York-listed Frontline for five years.
Stena Bulk is also looking to expand and modernise its tanker fleet, but Hanell said the company is not looking to order more ships, but rather buy ships in the secondhand market.
Meanwhile, some sources said Angolan state oil company Sonangol has put three older suezmaxes that are not working in the pool up for sale, but others said there are no sales plans at the moment for these ships.
The 158,000-dwt Sonangol Girassol, Sonangol Luanda (both built 2000) and Sonangol Kizumba (built 2001) are understood to be well-maintained, coated vessels used for storage in Luanda. The ships are estimated to be worth some $14m to $15m each.
