Titan Petrochemicals Group Ltd said on Wednesday it would buy up to 10 bunker barges for as much as US $86.7 million to expand and upgrade its ship refuelling business.
The bunker refuelling company said in a statement it had agreed to buy two 6,500 metric tonne double-hulled bunker barges at US $8.67 million each from a related shipbuilding and repairing firm, Titan Quanzhou Shipyard Co Ltd. The two barges will be delivered between December 2007 and January 2008.
The contract has two options, exercisable before November 2006 and May 2007. Each option allows the Hong Kong-listed firm to buy a further 4 bunker barges at the same price.
Shipbuilder Titan Quanzhou is 46.5 percent owned by Titan Oil Pte Ltd, which indirectly holds 56.7 percent of Titan Petrochemicals. Shares of Titan Petrochemicals have risen 7.1 percent over the past two weeks to close at HK$0.53 on Monday prior to a trading suspension. Trading in the shares will resume on Wednesday.