A terrible year
2009 presented Stena Bulk with huge challenges. Freightmarkets fell to unheard-of low levels during the secondquarter and our financial results plummeted. Nevertheless,in a market that has seen a close to 50% drop invalue during the financial year, we prevailed and throughforesight and tactical moves have managed to at leastlimit the long-term impact on the company. As we continuein 2010, many expensive chartered vessels have, andwill be, redelivered. Unlike many others, Stena Bulk hasno expensive newbuildings from the past on its books.Fortunately, we have been lucky, having sold off themajority of our fleet before the market went into free-fall.
New innovations
Our in-house developed innovative MAX tankers have been extremely successful with all of them awarded longtermcharters with major oil companies and traders a longtime before the vessels were even close to being completedat the shipyard. The Stena B-MAX, a tanker optimizedfor the Baltic Sea, has now been finally completed on thedrawing board by Stena Teknik, with full specifications,and is ready for fresh quotations from shipyards at significantlyreduced and lower price levels than those seen formany years. With twice as much cargo capacity as an Aframax tanker (100,000 tons) currently trading in the Baltic Sea through the Great Belt, the Stena B-MAX translates into fewer ships sailing in the region and will significantly reduce the risks posed by the current high traffic volume.
The Stena AirMAX concept, awarded the first “CleanInnovation Award” at Nor-Shipping in Oslo in June2009, is now in the middle of model tank testing withpromising results. A 50-foot model has been produced, which, due to its size, will be tested in its real environment,i.e. the waters off the Swedish west coast during this spring. With her characteristic carved-out air pockets in the bottom, this is truly a new and revolutionary design with new technology giving bunker savings of some 25% compared with a standard tanker of the samesize. Initially, the AirMAX concept will be used for the new Stena P-MAX vessels once the full specification is finally ready. This concept can, and will, be applied to all the different sizes in all the tanker segments.
Project “New” Stena Bulk
Since its establishment in 1982, Stena Bulk has built upone of the world’s strongest brand names in the tanker industry with an excellent reputation. In 2009, we faced some challenges for our personnel worldwide, which required adjustments. Partly new organizations at in particular our London, Singapore and Houston offices were established. Opening new offices in Finland and Braziland the Moscow office closing down, naturally had an impact on the overall organization. The launch of the“New” Stena Bulk in January 2010 marked a milestone that we are now ready to meet the challenges and opportunities we have ahead of us. We have a team focusing onthe business that has vast commercial ability, technical expertise, and strong client relationships. We belong to an admired Shipping Group that has it all, from a longterm perspective and an active owner mindset, to quality in all aspects of the operation and a very strong balance sheet. New investments in brand new Suezmax tankers atsome USD 140 million is a proof of this and we shouldall be proud. This is what the “New” Stena Bulk is all about.
Stena Sonangol Suezmax Pool
Stena Bulk’s close collaboration with the state-owned Angolian oil company Sonangol is in its fifth successfulyear and currently covers a fleet of some 15 Suezmax tankers. This joint venture includes extensive training of Angolan citizens, both at sea and in Stena Bulk´s network of offices. A joint project for a new and modern maritime
academy in Angola is at the planning stage. The chartering and fleet operations are carried out from Stena Bulk’s
offices in Houston, London, and Singapore with a brand
new Pool representative office just opened in Rio de
Janeiro. New, and again in-house designed, third generation Suezmax tankers have been ordered at Samsung,
South Korea, for delivery in 2011/12. When delivered,
these 158,700 dwt vessels, with a length of 274 meters
and a beam of 48 meters, will be the largest tankers in
Stena Bulk´s fleet. Nearly USD 7 million extra per vessel
has been invested in state-of-the-art technology in order
to ensure the highest environmental class including 15%
lower bunker consumption compared with the best Suezmax tankers of today.
The order of Stena Superior and Stena Suède is part of
Stena Bulk’s strategic investment in its own top-class tonnage for the Stena Sonangol Suezmax Pool.