Borealis Maritime Ltd and Nordic Tankers announced the intention to found a[ds_preview] jointly held company, Crystal Nordic AS, to form a strong player in the shortsea, ice-class chemical tanker trade in the Baltic and North-Western European market. Crystal Nordic AS will be owned by Embarcadero Maritime, founded by KKR and the principals of Borealis Maritime, and Nordic Tankers. The new company will take over the respective ice classed stainless chemical tankers businesses from its owners, which currently operate under the Crystal Pool Ltd and Nordic Tankers trade names. All other Borealis Maritime and Nordic Tankers operations and ventures are unaffected by the new partnership. Crystal Nordic will control a fleet of fifteen 4,000–11,400 DWT stainless steel ice class 1A/1B chemical tankers, totaling close to 100,000 DWT and performing in excess of 600 voyages yearly. Crystal Nordic AS is expected to commence trading in the first quarter of 2016.
Frederik Rye-Florentz of Borealis Maritime stated: »This new partnership is one of the first consolidations in the European chemical tanker market for some time.« Crystal Nordic AS will be an integrated shipping company with its own board, commercial and operations teams. The company will be incorporated and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Jan Eghøj will be appointed Managing Director. Crystal Nordic AS has secured competitive bank financing from ABN Amro Bank. The new partnership is subject to approval by the competition authorities.
