Womar Tanker Pools chief executive Hans Van Der Zijde said it typically takes time to reach a “perfect scenario” that suits both participants when recruiting a pool partner.
However, in the case of Chembulk Tankers, he said the two companies found each other’s needs “relatively quickly”, and hence could create a “win-win deal”.
“We always strive to align our offered solution to our customer's need,” Van Der Zijde said.
“We have been serving our customers for a long time and hence have both the knowledge and wherewithal to create ideal packages to suit their needs.”
The addition of the Chembulk fleet will lift the size of Womar’s pooled vessels to 40 ships — spread across 12 separate owners — and expand its network in the US.
“We wanted more exposure in the Western markets, especially the American market,” Van Der Zijde told TradeWinds.
“The joining of Chembulk vessels in our pool provided us with an ideal opportunity to imbibe some of their shipping experts into our organisation.”
“We achieved this by opening our Stamford office beside the existing office in Houston. This is expected to be a growth location for us.”
Market share
Van Der Zijde believes that by joining a pool, tanker operators can achieve larger market share and much lower overheads.
“Crucial will be the neutrality and transparency of the pooling company to be able to provide neutral services for best results,” he said.
“We are in the game with our pool customers, by chartering vessels from the market and placing them in [the] pool on Womar[’s] account. This makes us riding the markets with our customers and not being only a fee generator.”
Womar is looking at mergers, acquisitions and time charters to expand its pool operations.
“As long as we believe we can offer a superior service package to our customers — shipowners and cargo owners — we will extend our services,” Van Der Zijde said.
Irene Ang contributed to the article.
