Norway's Hansa Tankers is poised to grow its fleet to 48 ships by this autumn.
The Bergen-based chemical tanker operator is poised to add four vessels, including two newbuildings, to its pool.
The Nisshin additions come after Tailwind Management managers Petter Traaholt and Frank-Petter Kval entered their fourth chemical tanker in the Hansa pool in March.
That was after they reportedly paid $14m to buy the 33,000-dwt Lyderhorn (built 2006) from Nisshin in December 2020, when it was named the Chemroad Lily.
Hansa operates a pool of chemical tankers ranging in size from 19,000 dwt to 33,000 dwt with stainless-steel tanks. A year ago, the fleet totalled 43 vessels.
The pool's revenue increased from $309m in 2019 to $432m last year. Earnings are returned to the pool players.
Chief executive Hans Solberg told Norwegian financial newspaper Finansavisen that the result last year was in line with the average performance for Hansa Tankers since the company was set up in 2010.
Solberg said the revenue so far in 2021 is somewhat lower than in 2020, but he expects further growth with increased demand and almost zero growth in the world's fleet for such ships.
He earlier told TradeWinds that it was unlikely that many ships would be ordered in the next two to three years. He pointed to uncertainties about overcoming the challenges of Covid-19 and also higher bunkers prices.
Bjarne Rieber-controlled Inventor Chemical Tankers is the biggest participant in the Hansa pool.
Other owners participating in the pool include Nisshin Shipping, Transportation Recovery Fund, Bocimar, Midgard Shipping, K Line, Interunity Shipping, Songa Shipping, Marnavi and Doun Kisen.
