The aim of the joint venture is to be a strong player in the short sea, ice class chemical tanker trade in the Baltic and Northwestern European market, they said.
Crystal Nordic will be owned on a 50/50 basis by Nordic Tankers and Embarcadero Maritime (Borealis Maritime).
The new company will take over the respective ice classed stainless chemical tankers businesses from its owners, which currently operate under the Nordic Tankers and Crystal Pool trade names. All other Nordic Tankers and Borealis Maritime operations and ventures are unaffected by the new partnership.
Crystal Nordic will control a fleet of 15 x 4,000–11,400 dwt stainless steel ice class 1A/1B chemical tankers, performing in excess of 600 voyages yearly.
The new partnership is subject to approval by the competition authorities. Crystal Nordic is expected to commence trading in the first quarter of next year.
Combining the fleets will enable Crystal Nordic to obtain significant operational efficiencies in the form of reduced ballasting and idle days, improved utilisation of capacity and enable new voyage combinations.
Covering a wider range of cargo sizes in a larger geographical scope, the combined fleet also offers a better transportation product to both existing and potential customers, Nordic Tankers claimed.
“Capturing these efficiency gains will enable Crystal Nordic to become highly competitive while at the same time operating at the strictest safety and quality standards. The partnership is an important step in Nordic Tankers’ growth strategy to obtain critical mass in core markets. The strong consolidation move will simultaneously improve our offering to customers and strengthen the financial sustainability in all our global activities,” said Nordic Tankers’ CEO, Per Sylvester Jensen.
Crystal Nordic will be an integrated shipping company with its own board, management, commercial and operations teams. The company will be incorporated and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, and operate under the Danish tonnage tax system.
Once the joint venture is operational, the commercial activities in the Helsinki office will be transferred to the office in Copenhagen. All current staff members in Crystal Pool will be offered positions in Crystal Nordic.
Jan Eghøj will be appointed Crystal Nordic’s managing director. He is currently vice president, global operations at Nordic Tankers. It is expected that several of the Crystal Pool staff will join Crystal Nordic.
Crystal Nordic has secured competitive bank financing from ABN Amro Bank, Oslo, and will have a solid equity ratio and strong liquidity position from its inception, Nordic Tankers said.