Bahri Announces Amendment to the Cooperation between NCC and ODFJELL

The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) announces that National Chemical Carriers Ltd. Co. “NCC” (a subsidiary company owned 80% by BAHRI and 20% by SABIC) agreed with Odfjell SE today Tuesday, 28/5/1434H, corresponding to 9/4/2013G, to dissolve their 18 ships  pool with a capacity of 40,000 DWT or higher owned by NCC and Odfjell SE in addition to acquiring the shares of Odfjell SE in the “NCC Odfjell Chemical Tankers JLT” (NOCT).
NCC and Odfjell SE established NOCT in 2009. Since then, NOCT has managed the operations of the combined fleet owned by NCC and Odfjell.
Based on today’s signed agreement, NCC will effectively acquire Odfjell’s 50% stake in NOCT from 1st June 2013, at the net book value and will become a 100 percent owner of NOCT. The net book value at the end of 2012 is equivalent to SAR. 1.7 million.  
NCC has informed Odfjell about its desire to operate its fleet independently to be a full-fledged operator in the chemical tanker market with emphasis on the Saudi Chemical Market. This direction has been taken in line with NCC's operating strategy in view of major fleet expansions and the need to focus on future NCC growth and its desire to be more effective operator in this industry, in order to serve the expansions in petrochemical production and export from the Arabian Gulf region in general and Saudi Arabia in particular, which should also bring more financial incentives for the company and maximize shareholders’ value. Furthermore, it is expected that the impact of this direction will have a gradual financial impact on the Company starting from 1st of June 2013.   
NCC and Odfjell have long relationship for more than 20 years and will continue to cooperate on different platforms in the future.  It is also agreed that NCC will assume the commercial management of the two 75,000 DWT large chemical tankers owned separately by NCC and Odfjell which are presently under construction.
It is worth noting that NCC currently owns (23) vessels of which (11) are operating in the joint venture mentioned above, while (3) are operating under bareboat agreements and (9) under time charter agreements.
NCC expects to receive at the end of 2013G its 75,000 DWT large chemical tanker which is under construction at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co.
BAHRI, headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is one of the largest shipping companies in the world with operations in the oil & gas, chemicals, dry bulk and general cargo segments. Bahri owns and operates a modern fleet of 17 VLCCs, 22 chemical tankers, and 4 ROROs in addition to 5 dry bulk carriers, 3 chemical tankers and 6 multi-purpose general cargo ships under construction. Bahri also has a highly experienced team of in-house technical management experts for servicing all its vessels and ensuring the highest standards of safety and reliability.
Bahri currently employs approximately 1350 seafarers and shore staff globally. Bahri is a joint stock company listed on Tadawul, the stock exchange of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Source: Bahri