Phatra Naree

 "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" the old adage goes, and presumably the ship Phatra Naree lives up to that phrase in the eyes of the shareholders in the publicly traded Precious Shipping Company Ltd of Bangkok Thailand (PSL). If Google translates the ship's name correctly it means "beautiful lady." 

A handysize bulk carrier of 22,680 gt, and 35,882 dwt, it was built in 2017 by Sanjin Shipbuilding Industries Co in Weihai, China. A fairly typical single hull, single deck ship it is fitted with four 36 tonne SWL cranes. (Their capacity is listed at 28 tonnes when using grabs, but the ship does not carry its own.) According to the company's website it was built, or perhaps just laid down, as CMB Laszlo but was delivered as Nordic Seoul and given the name of Phatra Naree when acquired by PSL in 2022. The ship carries the company's solid green coloured funnel with 'PSL" in plain white letters and flies the flag of Thailand.

 

Precious Shipping Ltd was founded in 1989 and despite some setbacks during the Asian economic collapse in 1997, has built up a fleet of 40 bulk carriers engaged in tramp, voyage charter trades. There are 20 handysize, 8 supramax, 8 ultramax and four cement carriers in operation (each owned by an individual single ship company). The company also has its own ship management firm called Great Circle Shipping Agency and owns Associated Bulk Carriers Pte Ltd of Singapore and various PSL subsidiaries incorporated in Singapore, Panama and the UK. Due to the nature of their business (that is dry bulk raw materials and grains) the company's fortunes are tied to geopolitics. The Chairman of the Board's report for 2023 is a thesis on that topic, and surprisingly frank, see:

https://www.preciousshipping.com/wp-content/uploads/BODReport/BOARD_REPORT_2023_EN.pdf 

The ship Phatra Naree arrived in Halifax in ballast November 1 from Charleston, SC, and went directly to Pier 28 where it began to load from the grain spouts. There were some rain delays as there is no means of sheltering the holds to keep cargo dry, and work was ongoing today, with sailing scheduled for overnight tonight, November 8 - 9. There was a surprising lack of dust in the air, so there was no hint as to whether the cargo was wood pellets, soy or other grains. That may become known when the ship delcares its destination. [see possible addendum added later.]

 

Early this afternoon there were four spouts directing cargo into the after holds. 

Addendum: On requesting clearance to sail the ship gave Rotterdam as its destination leading me to believe its cargo is wood pellets for power generation.

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