STOLT-NIELSEN, VOPAK, JOHN T. ESSBERGER PLAN JOINT VENTURE

STOLT-NIELSEN, VOPAK, JOHN T. ESSBERGER PLAN JOINT VENTURE

   Stolt-Nielsen Transportation Group Ltd. (SNTG), Vopak Chemical Tankers B.V. and John T. Essberger GmbH & Co. said they intend to establish a joint venture to combine their respective European chemical tanker coastal fleets, starting Dec. 1, pending regulatory approval by the European Commission.

   The venture, to be called Vopak Essberger Stolt ChemPool, will comprise 35 modern double-hull chemical tankers with a total capacci5ty of about 150,000 deadweight tons. The combined fleet will be managed from ChemPool offices in Hamburg, Germany, and Dordrecht, the Netherlands.

   SNTG, a subsidiary of Stolt-Nielsen S.A., has operated its chemical tanker fleet under the name of Stolt-Nielsen Inter European Service. SNIES will transfer its marketing and operational personnel to Hamburg and Dordrecht. Vopak Chemical Tankers B.V. is the new name for Broere Shipping B.V. and is part of Royal Vopak. John T. Essberger is the tanker shipping division of the privately owned Rantzau Group.

   The Hamburg office will have marketing responsibility for the Baltic trade. Dordrecht will have responsibility for the western and central Mediterranean. The two offices will share responsibility for the North East area/United Kingdom and eastern Mediterranean.