Lois Zabrocky helped build the Aframax International pool when she worked at Overseas Shipholding Group.
And now she has done it again as chief executive of International Seaways.
New York-based Seaways has announced the launch of a new pool named Aframax International, a joint venture with Chile’s Ultranav.
The operation will commercially manage the aframax and LR2 fleets of the two companies, which have a 20-year partnership that began before OSG spun off Seaways in 2016.
The pool “will provide safe, reliable transportation to customers worldwide, with an initial focus on the Americas”, Seaways said in a LinkedIn post.
Expanding trade
“Both companies look forward to working with our close charterers in this expanding aframax trade.”
The pool will be managed by Cape Tankers, the Miami-based subsidiary of Dag von Appen-controlled Ultranav.
Led by Matias Aguirre, Cape Tankers also runs the Panamax International pool, a joint venture between Ultranav, Seaways and Ecuador’s Flota Petrolera Ecuatoriana, better known as Flopec.
According to the Cape Tankers website, Aframax International operates between six and 12 modern aframax and LR2 tankers.
It names five tankers in the fleet, including Seaways' 113,000-dwt Seaways Redwood (built 2013) and Seaways Yosemite (built 2009).
Also listed in the Aframax International fleet are the 115,000-dwt Megan Glory and 110,000-dwt Monique Glory (both built 2023), which databases list as owned by South Korea’s Sinokor Merchant Marine.
VesselsValue’s database shows the vessels started a one-year time charter to Cape Tankers in the final quarter of last year.
Key achievement
The final ship on the list is the 112,000-dwt Lorax (built 2022), which is controlled by Greece’s Alberta Shipmanagement and has been on a one-year charter to Cape Tankers since October.
When Zabrocky was appointed Seaways chief executive during the 2016 spin-off, OSG mentioned her role in the creation of the previous Aframax International pool as among her key accomplishments.
“She has significant shipping pool experience having helped build and manage the Aframax International pool,” the company said at the time.
