Delivery of two Capesize vessels
Paris, March 18, 1999 - Louis Dreyfus Armateurs has taken delivery of two 170,000-Tons Deadweight bulk carriers, the M/V Eric LD and the M/V Philippe LD, which were ordered in 1997 from South Korea's Daewoo shipyards. Announcement of the delivery was made by the company's Chairman, Philippe Louis-Dreyfus.
Two similar vessels, the Pierre LD and Charles LD, are also scheduled to enter the Louis Dreyfus Armateurs fleet this year. In addition, the CGG Alizé, a seismic research ship built at France's Saint Nazaire yard, will be brought into service next month.
These five new French-registered vessels will strengthen the company's current fleet of 45 majority-controlled ships, whose aggregate capacity exceeds three million Tons deadweight. The fleet transports an average of nearly 45 million Tons of cargo a year.
These major investments, which total more than FRF 1.5 billion, demonstrate Louis Dreyfus Armateurs' confidence in its strategic commitment to supporting major manufacturing groups, particularly French, as they expand into global markets.
Louis Dreyfus Armateurs has long been a leader in the dry bulk shipping market. Today, it intends to increase its presence in high value-added technical markets, such as offshore seismic studies, cable-laying and transhipment. Indeed, by enhancing Louis Dreyfus Armateurs' maritime engineering skills, Groupe Louis Dreyfus, through LD Com, has developed expertise in laying submerged fiber-optic cables in waterways. To date, more than 1,000 kilometres of cable have been laid, a first for a European company.
