Mercator Lines buys 9 dry bulk vessels

Mercator Lines Limited (MLL), the second largest private sector shipping company in India, has acquired nine dry bulk geared panama vessels for Rs 2,69.97 crore. These new vessels will have a total capacity of about 6.5 lakh tonne (dwt).

The Rs 563 crore Mercater Lines will be aloowed to charter these vessels for different periods and the company would also have the option to purchase some of these vessels in the future.

The company had also recently acquired two bulk carriers, a move seen as a step forward for starting dry bulker business. At present, Mercator Lines is only engaged in liquid transportation business.

With this acquisition, the company has total 10 vessels in its fleet, which is around 22 per cent of the total world fleet of these type of vessels. MLL'S tonnage will increase to about 1.85 million DWT once the vessels are delivered in August 2005.

Recently, the company had bagged a Rs 50 crore contract from Steel Authority of India Ltd for transportation of around 5 lakh tonne of coal over a period of 15 months, starting August 2005.