March 17, 2008 - Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd., Tokyo (hereinafter "K" Line) is proud to announce that an en bloc deal of ten consecutive voyage charter (CVC) contracts, duration of which are for ten-year each, was concluded and signed with JSW Steel Limited and JSW Energy Limited, Mumbai-based companies both belong to O.P. Jindal Group in India.
JSW Steel Limited, headed by Mr. Sajjan Jindal and one of the steel making arms of the Indian conglomerate, produces 4.5 million tonnes of crude steel per annum.; The company is set to expand the existing steel mill in Vijayanagar and to newly build two additional steel mills in Jharkhand and West Bengal, and poised to be the largest steel maker in India. JSW Energy Limited, a power generation company belongs to the same group, also has aggressive plans to expand the generation capacity to 15,000MW (including coal thermal plants and hydropower plants) by 2015.
| Charterers: | Steel Limited and JSW Energy Limited JSW | |
| Vessel types and commencing periods: | ||
| Panamax2 | vessels starting from 2008-2009 | |
| Post-Panamax3 | vessels starting from 2012-2014 | |
| Capesize | 5 vessels starting from 2011-2014 | |
| Durations: | For 10 years each | |
| Cargoes: | Coking Coal or Steaming Coal | |
| Ports of loading: | Australian, Indonesian, South African and Chinese ports | |
| Ports of discharging: | Western and eastern coasts of India | |
(from left to right: Mr. Sajjan Jindal, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of
JSW Steel Limited and Chairman of JSW Energy Limited, Mr. Hiroyuki Maekawa, "K" Line President)
The contracts signed this time with the two JSW companies are to provide them with sea transportation of coking coal and steaming coal by the above 10 vessels. Ports of loading under these contracts could vary among several ports, but on an assumption that the coal is to be imported exclusively from Australia and Indonesia, the total transport volume for the two companies under the en bloc deal could reach around 12 million tonnes per annum by 2015, when all the vessels enter the service. Freight revenue from the 10 vessels is expected to be over US$200 million per year.
"K" Line had already concluded CVC contracts for total 3 vessels - a Panamax starting 2008 and two Post-Panamaxes starting 2009 - before this en bloc deal, and altogether, total volume of coal "K" Line will transport for JSW companies by 2015 is expected to be around 15 million tonnes per annum, which is more than 40% of the total volume of coal to be imported by the two companies.
