ETA in expansion mode

ETA Shipping and Trading, part of the Dubai-based, ETA-Ascon Group, has placed an order for two 81,200 dwt super Panamax bulk carrier vessels with Japanese shipbuilder Universal Shipbuilding Corporation. Delivery is scheduled for 2009. ETA’s Shipping Division currently owns 16 ships and has placed orders for 8 more tankers worth $350 million to be commissioned in the next two years.

Trading & Shipping Division has big expansion plans for its fleet involving the acquisition of 76 new ships to increase the size of its fleet to 100 in the next five years. According to rough estimates the combined orderbook could be worth $2.72 billion and the company is currently negotiating orders with a number of shipbuilders for vessels ranging from Panamax to VLCCs.