Klaveness Combination Carriers Charters Cleanbu Vessel for Three Years

Klaveness Combination Carriers (KCC) has secured a three-year time charter for one of its Cleanbu vessels, as confirmed by the Norwegian shipowner, which is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

The charter begins immediately and has a declining rate structure, with the highest earnings in the first year and lower rates in the second and third years. The company did not disclose the identity of the vessel, the charterer, or the rates in dollars, but specified that the average daily rate over the three years exceeds any annual time charter average previously achieved by its Cleanbu fleet.

KCC's CEO, Engebret Dahm, noted that the agreement allows the company to capitalize on a product tanker market that remains historically strong, and that with this fixture the shipowner has completed the time charter employment program it had been developing.

This charter is the second significant long-term agreement for a Cleanbu vessel that KCC has announced so far this year. In March, the company had secured a two-year contract for the vessel Bass, built in 2021, with an unidentified energy company, whose employment began in May, also aimed at capitalizing on the strong earnings in the product tanker market.

With these two vessels now committed to long-term contracts, the remaining six Cleanbu vessels will continue operating as combination carriers, transporting both dry and liquid bulk cargo. In total, KCC controls a fleet of 19 combination carriers, comprising 11 Cabu vessels and eight Cleanbu vessels, capable of switching between dry and liquid cargoes to reduce ballast voyages. A subsidiary of the company was the one that signed the charter agreement for the Cleanbu vessel.