Belarus created the first marine shipping company "Belmorflot." This was stated by the chairman of "Belmorflot" supervisory board Alexander Belousov on December 16. All shares of "Belmorflot" are owned by foreign investors, 70% of them — corporations Zepter Group. "Belmorflot" was registered by Minsk City Executive Committee on November 23, 2010," Alexander Belousov said.
According to him, the main task of the shipping company is the exploitation of marine vessels, staffed mainly by Belarusian crews. The fleet basis will be vessels, acquired by «Belmorflot» under capital lease, while the new ships are to be built at the shipyard of China and Croatia. Construction will be financed by shareholders’ equity, as well as through Chinese credit line fundraising, open for Belarus. Zepter Group intends to invest $100 million in the Belarusian marine business, acquiring seven ships over the next five years, BelTA informs.
At the moment the representatives of the Croatian shipping company granted Belarus two ship in charter terms: «Catarina» with the capacity of 27 thousand tons and «Carolina» with the capacity of 35 thousand tons. «Belmorflot» expects to receive two marine vessels from their Croatian colleagues in 2011: «Dina» with the capacity of 27 thousand tons, and «Hana» carrying 40 tons. In addition, China is building a ship with the capacity of 57 thousand tons. «We look forward to a great shipbuilding program for seven to ten years,» the head of the supervisory board said.
«Belmorflot» ships will transport bulk cargo, ore, metal, fertilizers, soy, sugar and others. Thus, the «Catarina,» which is now in the Atlantic and is expected to arrive at the port of Klaipeda on December 19, is planned to be loaded 26.5 thousand tons of potash fertilizers up to Christmas, and it should go on its first voyage to Brazil on December 28-30. Then, the vessel should return, loaded, from Brazil in Klaipeda at the end of January 2011. «Now we are negotiating with companies, selling edible bulk cargoes, including salt and sugar, to Europe,» Alexander Belousov said.
Overall «Belmorflot» plans to carry about 1 million tons of cargo in 2011. «The Government has given a lot of attention to this issue and sets a target to carry at least 1 million tons of cargo in 2011. We are glad, if we can transport 500-700 tons, it will depend on certain conditions, including weather,» Alexander Belousov noted.
