Essar Shipping splits in half

Essar Shipping splits in half    Mumbai-based Essar Shipping Ports & Logistics Ltd. said Monday it is dividing its operations into two companies — Essar Ports and Essar Shipping.
   For every three shares held of the current company, shareholders will get two shares of Essar Ports and one share of Essar Shipping.
   The company said Essar Ports will be the second-largest private sector port company in India with annual capacity of 88 million tons targeted to grow to 158 million tons by 2013. The existing annual port capacity includes 58 million tons at Vadinar and 30 million tons at Hazira.
   Rajiv Agarwal will be managing director of Essar Ports, K.K. Sinha will be chief executive officer, and Shailesh Sawa will be chief financial officer.
   The company said Essar Shipping will be the second-largest private shipping and oilfields services company in India. The shipping business has a diversified fleet of 26 vessels, including VLCCs, capesizes, supramaxes, mini bulk carriers and tugs and the company has another doze ships on order for delivery in the next two years.
   It said much of its capacity is deployed on long-term contracts and contracts of affreightment, insulating the company from the volatility of spot markets.
   The oilfields services business provides contract drilling services to oil and gas companies and owns one semi-submersible rig and 12 land rigs. The company has ordered two new jack-up rigs.
   The company also provides end-to-end logistics services — from ships to ports, lighterage services to plants, intra-plant logistics and dispatching finished products to the final customer. This business owns transshipment assets to provide lighterage support services, and onshore and offshore logistics services. It manages a fleet of more than 5,000 trucks for inland transportation of steel and petroleum products.
   At Essar Shipping, A.R. Ramakrishnan will be the managing director,    Anoop Sharma will be CEO of the sea transportation business, Ankur Gupta will be CEO of the oilfields business, Rahul Himatsingka will be CEO of the logistics business and Vikram Gupta will be the CFO.