Norvic Shipping has announced the expansion of its tanker division as part its ambitious growth strategy.

To kick-start its growth plans, the New York-headquartered company has purchased Pro Alliance, an Aframax LR2 tanker from SK Energy in South Korea. The acquisition of the vessel, which has been renamed Norvic Monia, sees Norvic owning its first ship outright, marking a strategic shift from an operator to an owner-operator model.

While deploying Norvic Monia, a 105,348 dwt Aframax LR2 vessel, on routes around the world, Norvic will consider buying more tankers to grow the fleet and expand its tanker division.

Meanwhile, the company is pushing ahead with plans to take delivery of three newbuild dry bulk vessels from Japanese yards, which have been taken on long-term charters. This includes two handymax vessels from Onomichi Yard and one Ultramax from Imabari Yard. All vessels will be delivered between Q3 and Q4 of this year. The company is also in talks to take further newbuild dry bulk vessels on long-term charters.

Purchasing Norvic Monia marks a return to Norvic’s origins with the company launched as a tanker operator in 2006 in Canada. Since expanding to dry bulk in 2012, Norvic has grown into a US$1.3 billion+ turnover company.

“Going back to our roots and growing the tanker division makes strategic sense given the combination of the ongoing global need for crude oil and finished products and shortage of tonnage in the tanker sector,” commented AJ Rahman, Group Chairman, and CEO.

He continued: “Unlike dry bulk, the tanker segment is relatively stable with demand expected to grow faster than supply this year and next. Demand in 2024 for crude tankers will be up 4.5% to 6.5% from 2022, according to BIMCO, while supply is likely to fall 0.6%. Given the lack of a new order book in the tanker segment, we believe the time is now to move into ownership.”