Panamax acquisition to increase ESL's fleet strength to 14 vessels

New vessel, wieghing 74,500 deadweight tonnage, to take up Essar's total capacity to 1.6 mn DWT

Having acquired a Panamax vessel of 74,005 deadweight tonnage (DWT), Essar Shipping Limited (ESL) has taken its total fleet size to fourteen. Essar Shipping's fleet now includes very large crude carriers (VLCCs), Capesizes, Mini-capes, Panamax, Supramaxes and Handysize bulk carriers, taking the company's total DWT capacity to 1.6 million.

Moreover, with the acquisition of the 2000-built Panamax bulk carrier, the company's average fleet age has fallen to 12 years from 13.5 years earlier, said Essar Shipping Executive Director and CEO Ranjit Singh in a statement.

"This acquisition is in line with our strategy to find cargo before acquisition to ensure full utilisation of the vessel. This is a right fit to our fleet, given the requirement of our customers. Further, last month Essar Shipping de-commissioned, MV Chandi Prasad, which sailed for 28 years, and MV Mahavir was a perfect replacement," said Singh.

Re-christened 'MV Mahavir', the new vessel will be deployed for transporting pellets, coal and limestone from Essar Steel's pellet plant in Paradip to its steel plant in Hazira.

In FY17, ESL reported a 22 per cent growth in cargo handling, while its capacity utilisation grew from 80 per cent to 94 per cent. The Baltic Dry Index, a key indicator of freight rates, had also increased four times from an all-time low of 290 in February 2016 to 1,300 in March this year.