Source: TradeWinds

Canadian company takes total number of laker orders at Japanese yard to 10 and charters trio of ultramaxes

Canada’s Fednav has returned to its favourite Japanese shipyard, ordering six more laker newbuildings for delivery between 2019 and 2021.
Chief executive Paul Pathy tells TradeWinds that this brings to 10 the number of newbuildings his company has under construction at Oshima Shipbuilding.
The other four vessels, ordered late last year, are slated for 2018 delivery.
Pathy says the latest six 34,500-dwt Great Lakes-capable bulkers were ordered “primarily with the replacement of our fleet in mind”.
He added: “We will be replacing some of the existing vessels over the next three to five years."

‘Best in the world’
“There is also a modest growth in the laker sector in the next decade and we want to be there for the growth. Oshima is the best bulker and laker-building shipyard in the world.”
Fednav’s newbuildings at the yard are believed to be brokered by Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp. The price of the ice-class 1C vessels has not been disclosed.
In addition to the Oshima orders, Fednav is scheduled to take delivery of three 63,000-dwt ultramax bulkers from Imabari Shipbuilding in 2020. It has chartered them from Japanese owners for between five and seven years.
Pathy says the chartered Imabari newbuildings are also part of the fleet renewal plan.
“Fednav wants to have the newest, best ships in the fleet,” he told TradeWinds.
“Our company is in healthy shape and we are continuing to renew our fleet. But we are also looking at modest growth.”
The Montreal-based company controls close to 100 bulkers, of which half are owned. It is a leading operator in the international trades to and from the Great Lakes and the Canadian Arctic, and owns around 40 lakers built between 1996 and 2017.