Cargill's medium range tanker fleet is set to join the Maersk Tankers MR pool to create a new joint pool to serve the spot tanker market.
The pool will be managed by Maersk Tankers, with members of Cargill's tankers team joining to provide support on a full-time basis. The new team will be located across Copenhagen, Singapore, and Houston and will cover all daily commercial and operational tasks.
The agreement does not include derivatives or MR tankers for period employment, which will be handled by Cargill and Maersk Tankers independently.
Maersk Tankers currently operates 44 vessels for 10 partners in its existing MR pool. Cargill will add its fleet of up to 20 vessels, increasing the total number of vessels to more than 60.
Cargill's vessels will enter the pool from October 1, 2019. Both companies intend to attract additional vessels from other shipowners and further increase the pool's capacity over time.