Navig8 opens Shanghai office
The Navig8 Group has opened a representative office in Shanghai.
Manager HK Choo says Navig8 has decided to establish an office there to capitalise on the country's growing business. It was officially set up last month.
Navig8 is a products-tanker owner and operator. It says the best way to do business with the Chinese is to have a physical presence there. "The Shanghai office will support Singapore [head office]in expanding our China business," said Choo. "We are looking to expand our fleet through fixing ships to the Chinese and chartering vessels from them. We may also acquire ships from them or even get involved in newbuilding activities there."
The Navig8 Group has hired Zhao Yun Bao as its chief representative for the Shanghai office and Gordon Shen Ge as general manager. Both Zhao and Shen have extensive shipping experience and will be able to bring in valuable contacts.
Zhao has been in the industry for more than 30 years. He was a former vice-president of Cosco Group in Beijing and ex-president of Cosco Dalian Ocean Shipping Co (Cosco Dalian), the tanker arm of Cosco.
Shen has 16 years of shipping background. He was involved in the tanker business of China Shipping Group (CSG) and was a sale-and-purchase (S&P) broker for Braemar Seascope.
The Navig8 Group was established in March 2007 in Singapore by the former management of FR8. It controls a fleet of 39 products tankers including newbuildings. Navig8 has offices in London, Mumbai and Stamford.
Frontline invests in Navig8
NAVIG8 LIMITED (“Navig8”) announces that is has agreed to issue new share capital to Frontline Limited against the latter’s investment of $20 million in the Group. Following the fresh capital injection, Frontline will hold a 15.8% stake in Navig8
Frontline Ltd. is a major, Bermuda based, publicly listed tanker company. As a result of the acquisitions of vessels and companies since 1996, Frontline Ltd. has established itself as the world leader in the international seaborne transportation of crude oil, with one of the world's largest fleet of VLCC, Suezmax tankers and Suezmax OBO carriers (http://www.frontline.bm/). Frontline’s investment should be considered as financial, while at the same time giving them a foothold in the Chemical and Petroleum Product market.
The investment marks an important milestone in the development of Navig8’s capital structure and sets the ground for further growth and expansion. Together with the recently announced Touradji Capital investment, the participation of Frontline on the shareholding level establishes Navig8 as a highly credible counter-part, which is well positioned to take advantage of developments in the product tanker markets.
Navig8 pulls in new investor
Singapore-based tanker group Navig8 has turned to outside investors to fund further expansion in the tanker and related shipping sectors. Navig8 reveals to TradeWinds that despite the current difficult financial markets, Touradji Capital Management, a New York-based hedge fund, has purchased a chunk of the company. Company officials describe Touradji as a "highly synergetic" partner but do not reveal any details of its investment, describing it only as a non-controlling stake. "We have no doubt that Touradji Capital, with over $3bn in assets under management actively invested in commodities and commodity-related equities, will enhance Navig8's growth and expansion efforts in the coming years. Touradji has an outstanding track record in the commodity markets and is highly regarded in the industry," said Navig8 chairman Gary Brocklesby. TradeWinds understands that Touradji has only recently established an office in Singapore with an eye to growing its Asia-based shipping and oil-investment activities. The Singapore office is headed by former Navig8 partner Mark Lyons, whose resume also includes stints at Chevron and German power giant RWE. Lyons describes Navig8 as a company with a unique approach to the management and trading of maritime assets. "This will give us tremendous exposure to shipping opportunities," he said. Navig8 was established in March 2007 by chartering broker FR8, itself set up in 2003 to act as the shipping arm of UK-based oil trader Projector. FR8 split from Projector, selling its stake in the 14-strong fleet of products tankers. Senior FR8 executives then formed Navig8, which wasted no time in building up a large fleet. Today Navig8 controls a 30-strong fleet of tankers totalling approximately 1.4 million dwt, including newbuildings on order. The group actively trades a time-charter fleet, owns and invests in tonnage, commercially and technically manages vessels for third parties and trades in the freight-derivatives market.
Navig8 and Arcadia form a Strategic Alliance
Navig8 is pleased to announce the formation of a new strategic alliance with Arcadia Energy and VTN Shipping.
Arcadia (www.arcpet.co.uk) trades over 800,000 barrels of physical crude each day and it also runs a successful paper-trading group, through which over 10 million barrels of futures and options contracts are exchanged each day and will be substantially increasing their involvement in physical shipments of Clean Petroleum Products over the coming months. VTN Shipping a sister company of Arcadia involved in the multiple facets of ship management and shipowning will ensure that together the various companies will be able to help each other to expand further in their respective areas of trading and Shipping.
The Spot chartering services for Arcadia Energy's Clean Petroleum Products will be carried out by Navig8 Europe and Navig8 Asia commencing October 1st 2007. Navig8, a shipping and freight trading company, offers global freight coverage out of offices in Singapore, London, Connecticut and Mumbai. Currently, Navig8 controls a fleet of approx. 1.4 million dwt including its new building program. Navig8 operates across the shipping value chain with its core expertise being in the oil products sector. The group actively trades a time-charter fleet, owns and invests in tonnage, commercially and technically manages vessels for third parties and trades in the freight derivatives market.
Eight for Navig8
Navig8, set up in March by chartering broker outfit FR8, has signed for a quartet of 50,000-dwt medium range (MR) product tankers at Dubai Drydocks World for $175m en bloc.
The FR8 offshoot has also pencilled-in four more options at the yard with the firm orders set to come on line between 2009 and 2010, Dubai Drydocks announced on Tuesday.
Set up by three former Glencore brokers and a former Gibson broker in 2003 to act as the shipping arm for UK-based oil trader Projector, FR8 split from the latter earlier this year selling its stake in the 14-ship fleet of product tankers.
Senior executives in FR8 then set up Navig8 which still manages Projector’s vessels, with talk that Navig8 could look to go public.
The company currently employs some 35 people in London, Singapore, USA and Denmark. It also has its own shipmanagement company based in Mumbai.
The ships Navig8 has ordered at Dubai Drydocks are the largest that the yard will ever have build and marks the beginning of a new phase of the yard’s development to build increasingly large vessels.
By Eoin O'Cinneide in London - Tradewinds jun07
From FR8 to NAVIG8
Navig8 Ltd (Navig8) has been incorporated in March 2007 by the ex-Management of FR8 Group
following the recent split from Projector SA, Belize.
Navig8, a Jersey company with initial equity capital of approx. $50 million, will manage a
substantial Product Tanker fleet out of offices strategically located London, Singapore, USA and Mumbai.
Recent M&A activity within the group resulted in the Management selling its asset interests to
Projector, while maintaining the full ownership and control in the management companies; Navig8 will consolidate under its wings the commercial management and brokerage arms, FR8 Logistics (London) and FR8 Services (Singapore). Furthermore, Navig8 has agreed to acquire FR8 Shipmanagement Pte Ltd (to be renamed Navig8 Shipmanagement Pte Ltd), which will remain the group’s technical management arm.
Our Management team hasn’t changed; chartering will be covered by Max Curtis, Paul Delaney
and Ugo Romano in the west, while Peder Moller and Richard Lewis will cover the east. Nicolas
Busch and Mark Lyons will risk manage the group’s portfolio and trade on the derivatives
markets. Projects will continue being developed by Gary Brocklesby and Henry Tse, with Modi Mano managing the group’s investment and finance activities. Capt. Debashish
Bhattacharya will head technical management and operations. Overall, Navig8 employs a strong team of about 40 people.
The company has been set-up with an initial equity injection of approx. $50 million and is in
discussions with banks and investors regarding further capitalization in the order of $150-200
million. Navig8 has ownership interests in a number of modern MR tankers with an aggregate
market value circa $200 million.
Navig8 has signed Commercial & Technical Management agreements for the FR8 Fleet, currently counting 28 vessels and an exclusive brokerage agreement for Projector SA cargoes. Navig8 expects to grow the fleet through provision of high quality management services (commercial and technical) to third parties and joint ventures, while expanding its proprietary fleet of modern MR and LR tankers. Navig8 takes principal positions as time-charter operator and owner and will continue trading FFA’s and other derivatives with the purpose of hedging, exploiting arbitrage opportunities and taking a speculative view on the market.
Following the successful completion of the fleet sale Gary Brocklesby, the group’s leader has
announced that: “We have had a great track-record since we launched our business model in
2003; we have consistently outperformed the product tanker markets by significant margins, we
set-up a state of the art technical management team, who successfully took delivery of four
tankers and are overseeing the construction of a further 11 vessels. Our objective remains to be an innovative player in the product tanker sphere, integrating time-charter trading and ship
owning with active trading of freight and oil derivatives, through the employment and development of unique risk management technology.” The Management intends to step-up its growth strategy through taking proprietary positions (TC’s and S&P) in combination with joint-ventures with financial investors, oil traders and shipping companies – a strategy that proved to be successful in the past.
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