WORLD NEWS ASIA SFL Corporation sells seven vessels
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FL Corporation Ltd has announced that it has agreed to sell its seven Handysize dry bulk vessels to an Asiabased buyer for an aggregate price of approximately US$100 million. Delivery of the vessels is expected to take place before year end, and net cash proceeds are estimated to be more than US$50 million after repayment of associated debt. The company expects to record aggregate book gains of more than US$40 million from the sale of the vessels. The vessels have cargo capacity between 32 - 34000 DWT and have been employed in the spot market the last five years, after redelivery from their initial charters. With limited long-term chartering opportunities for small dry bulk vessels, the intention has been to trade the vessels in the spot market until the markets improved. The sale will not have an impact on the company’s charter backlog, and the net proceeds are expected to be reinvested in new assets. Ole B. Hjertaker, CEO of SFL Management AS, said “Our primary business strategy is to own and charter out vessels long-term to strong counterparties, and we have added more than US$850 million to our charter backlog in 2021.”
NORWAY Veson Nautical announces acquisition of Oceanbolt
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eson Nautical has announced its strategic acquisition of Oceanbolt, a dynamic data solutions product for bulk commodity trade flow analysis and marine shipping intelligence. Oceanbolt’s data solution provides web-based and API access to high integrity, real-time data on commodity trade flows, freight tonnage flows, live and accurate vessel positions, port congestion, port activity, and turnaround times – instrumental insights for strategically managing demurrage, for example. Since the inception of the Norway-based venture in 2019, Oceanbolt’s innovative data platform has earned the respect of an impressive client base of dry bulk owner-operators, commodities traders, supply chain co-ordinators, and tonnage charterers. Oceanbolt combines a best-in-class AIS processing engine with a proprietary geospatial database of port and berth polygons to allow computationally expensive calculations to be processed in a matter of seconds. Today, Oceanbolt processes 30+ billion data points, makes 60+ million daily observations, and tracks 5+ billion t of cargo each year over 140 commodities.
USA Bruks Siwertell delivers cement unloader to Ozinga
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ruks Siwertell has delivered a Siwertell road-mobile shipunloader to US organisation, Ozinga. The next-generation unit promises to secure environmentally friendly cement handling for the company; an operator that prides itself on delivering innovative solutions to its customers. “This is Ozinga’s first Siwertell shipunloader,” says Ken Upchurch, VP Sales and Marketing, Bruks Siwertell. “The Ozinga team invested time in researching various types of unloading equipment and concluded that the Siwertell roadmobile unloader was the best solution for its application.” Ozinga specialises in concrete, dry bulk materials, and natural gas energy solutions, and has an extensive network of truck, rail, barge, and ship terminals. Its operations are predominantly focused in the US mid-west, where the new shipunloader is making its debut. 4 . DRY BULK . AUTUMN 2021
For operators that serve multiple ports or facilities with minimal or no infrastructure, Siwertell road-mobile shipunloaders offer flexibility, efficiency, and environmental protection. “They have a worldwide reputation for reliability and are a popular choice for cement handlers,” adds Upchurch. Ordered in 2020 and delivered later in the same year, the 5000 S road-mobile unloader offers totally enclosed, environment-friendly cement handling operations, with the unit delivering a continuous rated unloading capacity of 300 tph for vessels up to 5000 DWT. The trailer-based, diesel-powered system is fitted with dust filters and a double-bellows discharge arrangement with an automatic shifting function. It also features advanced digital technology for diagnostics and trouble-shooting.
