SFL Conductor

 The large shipowning company SFL (formerly Ship Finance International Corp) made another appearance in Halifax today. Since its founding in 2003 the company has expanded from tankers into bulk carriers, containers, auto carriers and oil rigs. 

Its last caller in Halifax was the large tanker SFL Thelon on March 20. The 159,500 dwt ship required repairs en route from Saudi Arabia to Saint John, NB with a cargo of crude oil. 

 

After a short spell in port here, it stood by about 50 miles offshore until repairs were completed and on March 23 it got underway for Saint John. It anchored off Saint John March 24 and today, March 29, moved in and connected with the Single Point Mooring unit off Canaport and began to discharge cargo via pipeline.

Meanwhile in Halifax SFL's presence was marked this morning by the auto carrier SFL Conductor, a ship that called here twice in 2022 (see Shipfax July 14  and December 30.)

Built in 2006 by Shin Kurushima in Onishi, Japan, the 60,116 gt, 17,709dwt ship served initially as Favorite Ace, becoming Glovis Ace in 2012 and SFL Conductor in 2019. It has a capacity of 6500 CEU, and is on charter to Volkswagen until the third quarter of 2023.

Although incorporated in Bermuda with its shares traded on the New York Stock exchange, SFL's owner's base of operations is Oslo. Its various subsidiaries have offices in London, Singapore and Limassol. The majority owner, with 18.6% of the shares, is a John Frederiksen family trust. Frederiksen is the publicized shipping magnate who has recently been involved in the take over of another tanker company, Euronav, controlled by the Belgian Saverys family. Euronav's "Cape" tankers are regular suppliers of Valero's Jean Gaulin refinery in Lévis, QC.

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