A new Danish company named Hafnia Tankers with a number of former Torm employees at the helm aims to raise somewhere in the range of USD 200-235 million at the OTC in Oslo with the help of British bank Barclays and capital funds Blackstone and Tufton Oceanic, according to Shippingwatch’s sources. The plan is to go public in Oslo or New York within the next six months.

The group of investors behind Hafnia Tankers (former Tankers Inc.), Barclays, J. Lauritzen, Blackstone, and Tufton, will post an additional USD 190 million in the company, while other investors have committed as much as USD 180 million to the new shipping company.

The new company will have a 40 % ownership share in Hafnia Management, which currently owns 53 product tankers in pools, and it will take control of J. Lauritzen’s fleet of 10 MR product tankers.

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The founding of the new Hafnia Tankers with a multimillion-dollars funding base is the culmination of several years’ planning in Tankers Inc. – established in 2010 under the management of former Torm executive Mikael Skov and with financial backing from Barclays and J. Lauritzen.

To begin with, Hafnia Tankers will own 27 product tankers within SR, MR, and LR1, including 19 vessels already at sea and 8 MR Eco-Ship Newbuildings.

Click here to read ShippingWatch's big Mikael Skov-interview from earlier this year.

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