Vela’s Capricorn Star Transferred to Bahri

The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) said that another VLCC vessel from the Vela fleet, the Capricorn Star, was transferred to Bahri’s ownership on Thursday 7 August 2014.

The VLCC has been renamed to Lulu.

This is the second vessel taken over by Bahri, Matar Star, renamed to Nisalah, being the first one at the end of July 2014.

“The remaining Vela vessels shall be transferred to Bahri on a staggered basis according to an agreed upon vessel delivery schedule with Vela,” Bahri said in a release.

The vessel transfer is expected to be completed before the end of 2014.

The merger of the two shipping giants, Bahri and Vela, worth $1.3 billion, was sealed this June, marking the biggest merger deal in the Saudi Arabian history.

The merger builds on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked in 2012 and will see creation of a joint fleet.

The deal includes shifting the whole fleet of Vela, consisting of 14 VLCCs used for floating storage, 5 refined petroleum product tankers, all crew of Vela’s carriers, employees and part of its business systems, so that they can be integrated within Bahri’s structure.

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Press Release, August 11, 2014