The new Singapore office will allow Ardmore to expand its Asian and Middle East operations in these important growing markets, the company said.
Wakamatsu joined Ardmore from Petrobras’ Singapore office, where he was working for two years, following stints with the company in Houston and Brazil. Muninggar has 12 years of experience working for tanker and chemical companies in Asia, most recently for Vitol and Navig8 Chemicals.
Commenting on the decision to open a Singapore office, Gernot Ruppelt, Ardmore Shipping’s senior vice president of chartering and business development, said: “Singapore has become a very important, influential and independent chartering market and the opening of our Singapore office will allow Ardmore Shipping to build closer relationships with customers in the tanker sector in Asia and the Middle East.
“Having an office in Singapore enables us to transact business and provide operational support in close proximity to our customers and on their time zone, thereby enabling Ardmore to further improve an already very effective service platform and in return increase deal flow to the company,”he said.
Ardmore’s global growth has been driven by the recent upturn in the product tanker market and follows the fleet to expand from eight to 24 vessels on the water in the last two years.
This figure includes the delivery of its last two newbuildings, ‘Ardmore Seahawk’ and ‘Ardmore Chippewa’ this month, which completes Ardmore's initial newbuilding programme.
‘Ardmore Chippewa’ is a 25,233 dwt, Eco-design IMO II product and chemical tanker built at the Fukuoka Shipbuilding yard in Nagasaki, Japan, and is the last in a series of four Fukuoka newbuildings.
‘Ardmore Seahawk’ is a 49,999 dwt, Eco-design IMO II/III product and chemical tanker and was constructed at SPP Shipbuilding’s Dukpo Shipyard and is also the last in a series of four SPP newbuildings.