Bangkok: Precious Shipping, Thailand's largest shipping firm, has said it planned to spend $474 million on 15 new vessels to replace its ageing fleet.
About $114 million would be earmarked for three new Supramax ships, which range in size from 50,000 to 60,000 deadweight tonnes (DWT), and the rest for 12 ships previously announced by the firm, managing director Khalid Hashim said.
"The first ship will be delivered in 2010 and the rest will be made successively to 2013," Hashim said.
New funding
The company has made a downpayment and will need $444 million in new funding, most of it through bank loans.
Precious operates 44 small-to-medium sized ships with a combined capacity of 1.13 million DWT and an average age of about 19 years. The fleet carries mainly commodities and building materials.
The firm said last month 25 vessels are more than 20 years of age and need to be replaced over the next five to seven years.
The 18-year-old firm competes with Thoresen Thai and foreign rivals, including China's Cosco Pacific and China Shipping Development Co. Ltd.
It reported a 30 per cent rise in net profit to 3.5 billion baht in the first nine months of this year, when it earned average freight rates of $12,834 per ship per day, up 16 per cent from a year earlier.
Analysts expect the firm's 2007 earnings to rise 22 per cent to 4.5 billion baht ($134 million) from a 3.7 billion last year and a record 6.18 billion baht in 2005.
