Berlian Laju Tanker to spend $350 million for additional vessels

Publicly-listed shipping company PT Berlian Laju Tanker plans to spend as much as US$350 million within a year to add to its fleet, the company said in a statement carried by the Bloomberg on Friday.

The company plans to use its own cash and loans to buy used vessels or build new ones, Berlian said. It will hold a shareholders meeting on May 17 to get approval for the plan.

"This fleet development is needed in order to increase the company's opportunities for the sea transportation service need or demand for liquid cargo transportation," the company said. "The chemical and oil industrial centers at present have not been fully covered by the company's vessels."

Berlian may benefit from the Indonesian government's move, announced on April 4, to ban overseas shipping lines from carrying cargo between the nation's seaports to protect local companies.

Indonesia has only a handful of shipping lines including Berlian and PT Samudera Indonesia, which together handled 3 percent of the nation's imports and exports and 53 percent of domestic shipments in 2003, according o the Ministry of Transportation.(*)