Gulf Navigation acquires VLCC

Gulf Navigation Holding, one of the leading ship-owners and maritime services company in the region, has acquired a new Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) in line with its announced expansion strategy in the crude oil market.

The new crude carrier, to be named Gulf Eyadah, was built in 2006 and has 300,000 deadweight ton capacity, or two million barrels of oil. The ship is expected to be delivered next month and will be chartered the same day to a reliable international firm for 2 years at an attractive rate.

Agreement for financing is in place with a major European bank at competitive rates.

Gulf Eyadah will join Gulf Navigation's existing VLCC, Gulf Sheba, which was built by the Company and delivered late 2007. As the case for its sister vessel, the new VLCC will be technically managed by Gulf-Stolt Ship Management Company of Dubai, GulfNav's joint venture with Norwegian ship owner Stolt Neilsen.

Commenting on the acquisition, Eng. Abdullah Al Shuraim, Chairman of Gulf Navigation, said: "Gulf Eyadah inaugurates our strategic plan for expansion in the VLCC market. The acquisition is also the beginning of our fleet modernization scheme, which continues to be a high priority on our agenda."

Per Wistoft, CEO of Gulf Navigation Holding, added:" This is an important move for us on two fronts; generating immediate and better revenues, thus positive impact on our results; and increasing our carriage capacity to serve new customers. We are committed to providing our customers with state-of-the-art quality service, and Gulf Eyadah is a milestone of many more to come."

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