The largest ocean container line wants to be a serious player in the tanker business.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. has filed to acquire half of Sinokor Maritime, which operates a fleet of 78 very large crude carriers (VLCCs).

MSC, which is controlled by media-shy billionaire Gianluigi Aponte, had been rumored to be making a move into the lucrative energy transportation market. The pending deal came to light in filings with Greek and Cypriot regulators by SAS Shipping Agencies Services, a Luxembourg subsidiary of MSC, headquartered in Geneva.

Aponte had been on a binge ordering new container tonnage for MSC, with capacity of 7.23 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs), good for 21.5% of the market, according to Alphaliner. Maersk claims second place, with a 13.8% share, or 4.63 million TEUs.

MSC will acquire 50% of Seoul-based Sinokor, with Korean tycoon Ga-Hyun Chung retaining 50%.

Through late January Sinokor had bought 35 of 45 VLCCs year-to-date, according to VesselsValue, or 78% of the market. Sinokor had controlled around 78 active VLCCs, Reuters reported.

VLCCs number from 900-1,000 of the worldwide tanker fleet of as many as 9,000 ships. Each VLCC carries about 1.9–2.2 million barrels of crude per voyage and primarily works long‑haul routes such as Middle East–Asia and Middle East–Europe, making them critical to long‑distance seaborne crude logistics.

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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