Oaktree, American Industrial exploring sale of Rand Logistics
Oaktree Capital Management LP and American Industrial Partners are exploring a sale of marine transportation company Rand Logistics, which could fetch more than $1 billion, including debt, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Oaktree and AIP are working with advisers on a sale of the Williamsville, New York-based company, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. No final decision has been made and they could opt to hold onto Rand.
An Oaktree spokeswoman declined to comment. Representatives for AIP and Rand didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Rand describes itself as a leading marine infrastructure provider on the Great Lakes that delivers over 45 million tons annually of bulk cargo including iron ore, grain and stone across the U.S. and Canada. It operates 24 vessels across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway.
AIP agreed in February to sell a minority stake in the company to Oaktree’s transportation group, according to a statement at the time. “With connectivity to ports across the Great Lakes, we hope to drive connectivity with Watco, one of the largest short-line rail providers in the country, and another anchor investment in our portfolio,” Oaktree Managing Director Emmett McCann said in that statement.
Bloomberg
Bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth sold to Greek owners
The bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth has been sold and has taken up its new career as a pollution cleanup vessel in Piraueus, Greece. Its Canadian registration was closed on September 14 and it was re-registered in Greece as Aktea II OSRV.
The small tanker was initially ordered by the Clipper Wonsild Group from the Tukter Shipyard in Tuzla, Turkey. Construction began in 2005, but the ship was not delivered until 2007 after Yardimci Shipyard took over the build and completed the ship as Clipper Bardolino. Classed as a chemical and product tanker it measured 2999 gt, 3569 dwt.
In 2008 it was sold and renamed Samistal Due (possibly repossessed) and under Turkish flag, carried that name only briefly until acquired by Algoma Tankers. The ship was stationed in Halifax harbor for bunkering work and renamed Algoma Dartmouth.
Imperial Oil provided the bunkering service with fuel from their Dartmouth refinery, and had previously operated their own tanker Imperial Dartmouth. When Imperial Oil sold their tanker fleet to Algoma Tankers, they kept the bunkering service and the Imperial Dartmouth for a time, but sold it in 2006. It still operated in Halifax, but was owned by Northern Transportation, renamed NT Dartmouth under charter to Imperial Oil. However that contract ended in 2009. The ship was eventaully sold south.
In 2009, when Algoma Tankers brought the Algoma Dartmouth into service it was also on charter to Imperial Oil, but in 2013 Imperial closed the Dartmouth refinery, thus reducing the ready availability of heavy fuel and marine diesel oil. In 2014 Sterling Fuels, a subsidiary of the Miller/ McAsphalt companies took over as charterer. Sterling operates bunkering services on the Great Lakes from its base in Windsor, ON. However it is a long supply line to Halifax harbor, so they accessed fuel from a variety of sources in Canada and the US.
At the end of the cruise season in November 2018, Algoma Dartmouth was transferred to Saint John, NB, with the charter being transferred to Irving Oil. Cruise ships were a major source of business for bunkers, and most of the ships that called in Halifax also called in Saint John. With a refinery at hand there was also a ready supply of fuels. However the off season (that is between November and May) saw very little business, and the operation was marginal. However when COVID 19 struck the cruise business dried up completely and the Algoma Dartmouth was moved Sydport in Sydney, NS and laid up.
Mac Mackay via Shipfax
Gales of November announces virtual program Nov. 11-13, 2021
Duluth, MN – We are going virtual again his year! Due to the increasing numbers of COVID infections and hospitalizations in our region, the board of the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association has opted to cancel its in-person Gales of November. In addition to our virtual program, we also plan a online silent auction and raffle. Visit https://www.lsmma.com/ to see raffle items.
⚓Virtual programs and links:
Thursday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m. Lee Radzak,
The View from Split Rock. Hosts: Elissa Husby & Renée Mattson
Lee Radzak spent nearly 40 years as the “keeper” of Split Rock Lighthouse, living at the remote site with his family and working as site manager there for the Minnesota Historical Society. Lee talks about his and his family’s live at the lighthouse and about his new memoir, The View from Split Rock: A Lighthouse Keeper’s Life Please click here to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82457351935?pwd=ZGZobmVBOGFjdWZEQmlHRWxPeUl KQT09
Passcode: 292704
Friday, Nov. 12, 7 p.m. Dan Rau, Netting the Heritage & History of Commercial Fishing Hosts: Joe Lapp & Jay Walker Lake Superior Marine Museum Association board member Dan Rau has mainly spent his adult life on the waters of Lake Superior, either as a boat captain, a fisherman or research. Working with the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association board member and videographer Fred Dudderar Jr., he is helping to capture the oral stories of commercial fishing, a vital part of the Big Lake’s history and, one hopes, its future. Please click here to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81327812586?pwd=N1FoZmVVTWtYd2FyQTVhWnhMcm Q0UT09
Passcode: 967256
Saturday, Nov. 13, 5:30 p.m. Bruce Lynn, Preserving & Discovering History Above & Below the Waves Hosts: Sara Blanck & Konnie LeMay Bruce Lynn, executive director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point and of the Great Lakes Shipwreck History Society, reviews 2021 with its new, exciting developments at the museum and a spectacular season of underwater shipwreck discoveries in Lake Superior. Please click here to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87540432301?pwd=bkxwb0pBZHd3cjJtbTNvRnVJbUNEZz0 9
Passcode: 828247
Saturday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m. Roger LeLievre,
Because of the Boats: How I Became the Luckiest Boatnerd in the World! Hosts: Konnie LeMay & Sara Blanck In retrospect, Roger’s path was inevitable. Born just blocks from the Soo Locks, summers spent with his grandparents at their cottage on the St. Marys River gave him a firm foundation for the years to follow. A chance meeting with boat photographer and Know Your Ships book publisher Tom Manse – who taught a young Roger to take pictures and work in the darkroom – was a turning point in his life. For the past four decades, Roger has been living his childhood passion watching and recording the freighters that ply the Great Lakes waters and, after taking over from Tom, publishing Know Your Ships, a go-to classic for Boatnerds. Please click the link here to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87182232369?pwd=QWJjdGRCalppYmZObktERitMTldydz0 9
Passcode: 580560
ISMA Cleveland Lodge holding Great Lakes freighter trip raffle
International Ship Masters’ Association is having a freighter trip raffle to benefits the International Ship Masters’ Grand Lodge convention being hosted by ISMA Cleveland Lodge 4. Tickets are $10 and by buying 5 tickets you’ll receive 6. Drawing is Friday January 28, 2022 during the conventions’ Grand Ball. Find out more at this link: https://www.greatlakesshiptripraffle.com
