RIGA - Latvijas Kugnieciba (Latvian Shipping Co., LASCO) is continuing the aggressive modernization of its fleet, announcing last week that it has ordered two more tankers from Croatian shipbuilders.
This latest order brings the total of new Croatian-made tankers for LASCO to 10.
The 10 tankers commissioned with the Croatian shipyard will be ice-class double-hull vessels with a holding capacity of 51,800 tons each and will be designed for the carrying of oil and chemical products. The first ship should be delivered in 2006, while the last two - those just ordered - are likely to be delivered in 2008.
The company did not reveal the cost of the new ships.
LASCO will pay 30 percent of the total cost from its own funds and use banking loans to finance the remaining 70 percent.
In February the shipper also signed an agreement with the South Korean shipyard Hyundai Mipo Dockyard for the construction of four medium-class tankers.
According to the company's development strategy, which was run until 2007 and was approved by shareholders last year, the company will invest $350 million in renovation of its fleet over the next seven years.
As part of this strategy, LASCO has also bought three medium-size tankers built in 2003. In June the company received the third tanker, which it renamed Kaltene. The first two were renamed Kolka and Kuldiga and were delivered in May.
All three vessels were built in 2003 and are ice-class tankers with a holding capacity of 37,000 tons each. The shipper said it intended to use them mainly in northwestern Europe.
In 2003 LASCO posted a profit of 8.8 million lats (13.5 million euros), up from 2002, when it was 33.51 million lats in the red.
At present LASCO's fleet consists of 33 tankers, two gas carrier ships, five refrigerator ships and one dry cargo vessel.
LASCO is quoted on the official list of the Riga Stock Exchange. Its largest owner is the Ventspils Nafta oil transit concern, which owns nearly 50 percent.
