Hafnia Emerges as Buyer of Rederi´s Gotland MR Chemical Ships

Hafnia, a large operator of product and chemical tankers, strikes another newbuild addition to its fleet portfolio with its second (out of four newbuilds) dual fueled LNG powered vessel Hafnia Loire. In addition the company says it is the buyer of two MR Chemical ships sold by Swedish owners.

China’s Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) hosted a naming ceremony for the second LNG-powered LR2 tanker on May 22, with delivery to her owner TotalEnergies taking place on May 23.  Hafnia Loire set sail on the 25th of May, following the completion of remaining formalities.

The four LR2 newbuilds are 250 meters long with 12 cargo tanks, enabling a carrying capacity of 110,000 deadweight or 133,500 cbm.

The remaining two vessels will be delivered in 2023 and 2024, to Norway’s Equinor under long term time charter deals.

It’s worth noting that the first vessel Hafnia Languedoc was delivered on March 15, 2023.

Hafnia’s technical team had a collaboration with the Project and Site Team, in order to perfect and deliver Hafnia Loire into the company’s fleet.

In the meantime Hafnia has acquired two 2017 built IMO II medium range Chemical vessels. The vessels are the 49,700-dwt Wisby Atlantic (now Hafnia Atlantic) and Wisby Pacific (to become Hafnia Pacific, which will be delivered in the second quarter) formerly jointly owned by Sweden’s Rederi AB Gotland and Wisby Tankers.

The two vessels will join the growing Hafnia MR Chemical Pool which will now count nine vessels. The ships are traded alongside its Handy Chemical/IMO2 Pool, with Hafnia’s Deepsea Chemical/IMO2 Fleet currently standing at 33 ships.

Head of Chemicals Chartering Atle Sebjornsen, VP states “We are excited about adding these two modern Chemical IMO2 MRs to our fleet. Hafnia has built substantial scale in the chemical segment in a short period of time and the acquisition of these ships will further strengthen our presence in the deep sea chemical market and enable us to offer additional sailings and increased flexibility to our valued partners and clients in the segment”.