Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree merging the two top Russian energy shippers, Novoship and Sovcomflot, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday. Russia has been seeking to merge the companies for several years in a move to create a national shipping giant.
"In the context of consolidation of the two companies a tanker company is being created that will be certainly ranked among the world's five top tanker firms," RIA Novosti quoted Sovcomflot Director General Sergei Frank, formerly Russia's transport minister, as saying.
Frank was also quoted as saying the united company will have total assets of close to $5 billion. Sovcomflot is 100 percent state-owned. Its fleet operates 52 vessels with a total dead-weight capacity of 4.16 million tonnes. Novoship, or Novorossiisk Shipping Co, has a fleet of 60 vessels with a total dead-weight capacity of around 3.7 million tonnes. Russia has a majority stake in Novoship, which is based at Russia's biggest Black Sea export outlet of Novorossiisk.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.