A Turkish shipbuilder that turned owner when the 2008 financial crash led to newbuildings at the yard being cancelled is poised to grow its fleet to at least 13 chemical tankers in the next couple of years.
Haken Sen’s Med Marine, which owns Eregli Shipyard, already has six ice-class, 1A, 8,400-dwt chemical tankers with YMN Tanker Marine Management, founded by the group in 2012.
That fleet is set to increase with two sister tankers recently launched and a further three under construction.
Charter strategy
“Once delivered, we will have 11 chemical tankers of 8,400 dwt, as well as two of 26,000 dwt,” YMN chartering manager Melis Ucuncu told TradeWinds.
Eregli has built various chemical tankers for international owners and charterers, including stainless steel and MarineLine-polymer coated units.
When the financial crunch hit and buyers were unable to take delivery of ships, the group decided to start chartering out the tankers itself rather than sell them at distressed prices.
Sea Tankers was established in 2010 as the holding outfit for single-ship companies owning the vessels.
There are deals in the market that can be done. Things are definitely growing
Melis Ucuncu
Evolving operations
YMN followed as the in-house technical and commercial manager of the fleet, with technical management transitioning gradually from Chemfleet of Turkey. About 30 people now work in YMN’s Istanbul office.
Uni-Tankers of Denmark and North Sea Tankers of the Netherlands both have YMN ships on charter. Others are traded on the spot market, including the 26,000-dwt units.
Two of the five 8,400-dwt tankers still to be delivered are coming from Eregli and three from the Atlas Shipyard in Izmit, close to Istanbul.
One of the Eregli newbuildings, the Med Emre (Hull No ERO8), which was launched on 20 June, is pencilled in for delivery in October. It is also likely to join Uni-Tankers on time charter, according to Ucuncu.
The next Eregli-built tanker will follow in around March 2020.
Another in the series, the Med Pakize (Hull No NB8009), was launched by Atlas on 25 June. The last of the series is due for delivery in early 2021.
“You don’t get many owners with 11 units of the same size,” Ucuncu said of the expanding 8,400-dwt fleet.
Purchase options
YMN typically trades its newbuildings for a period until Ship Inspection Report and Chemical Distribution Institute Inspection programmes are completed.
Ucuncu said YMN is also looking at acquiring other tankers that comply with the latest environmental standards, including IMO Tier III engines, possibly newbuildings.
Modern, secondhand chemical tankers are also a purchase option.
“There are deals in the market that can be done,” Ucuncu said. “Things are definitely growing.”
A fleet of up to 15 to 20 chemical tankers is envisaged by later in 2021, he said, with vessels largely within the sub-10,000 dwt category.
Ucuncu said once Eregli has delivered its final pair of 8,400-dwt sisterships, the yard plans to focus more on building smaller vessels such as tugs, mooring boats and pilot boats, in which it already specialises.
Med Marine is also a leading tugboat operator in Turkey, having provided towage, pilotage and mooring in ports for the past 20 years.
