By Hemang Palan

Euronav NV (“Euronav”) and Anglo-Eastern Univan Group (“Anglo-Eastern”) are pleased to announce a Heads of Agreement (“HoA”) for the sale and purchase of Euronav Ship Management Hellas (“ESMH”), Euronav’s ship management arm. Euronav and Anglo-Eastern intend to join forces through this sale, with the latter assuming ownership of ship management responsibilities for the vessels currently under ESMH on an “as is” basis. This transaction will provide Anglo-Eastern with a strong local presence in the Greek market while also greatly enhancing its footprint in large crude oil tankers. Post-integration, ESMH will become part of Anglo-Eastern’s vast global network, offering the combined entity a wide range of growth opportunities in different regions and ship types.

Bjorn Hojgaard, CEO of Anglo-Eastern, emphasised the mutually beneficial nature of this agreement which “will enable both companies to focus on what they do best and reflects Euronav’s utmost confidence in Anglo-Eastern’s ability to deliver as a ship manager and wider initiatives related to safety, quality, digitalisation, crew training and decarbonisation”.

Alexander Saverys, CEO of CMB: “We are very happy to join forces with Anglo-Eastern. We already have a strong collaboration with Anglo-Eastern and this combination will further enhance our business relation, offering plenty of new opportunities for our company and our people.”

The HoA is subject to further documentation and final board of directors’ approval.

Euronav and CMB.TECH together represent a group with around 150 ocean-going vessels (including newbuildings) in dry bulk, container shipping, chemical tankers, offshore wind vessels and oil tankers. The group focuses on large marine and industrial applications on hydrogen or ammonia. They also offer hydrogen and ammonia fuel to customers, through own production or third-party producers. It's also working on developing hydrogen applications like trucks, locomotives, and straddle carriers. The group believes that using hydrogen for smaller ships and ammonia for larger ones could play a major role in making shipping greener. Decarbonise Today, Navigate Tomorrow! 

Euronav is planning to propose to its shareholders to change its name to CMB.TECH. However, Euronav will remain the name for the tanker division. The focus is on diversification, decarbonisation and optimisation of the fleet. The company's goal is to become the reference in sustainable shipping. Euronav is listed on Euronext Brussels and on the NYSE under the symbol EURN. The company is headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium, and has offices across Europe and Asia. Euronav Ship Management (Hellas) Ltd was established in Athens, Greece in 2005 and is engaged in the ship management of the trading ocean-going oil tankers of Euronav and the supervision of newbuilding constructions. Ship management includes crewing, technical, procurement, accounting, safety and quality assurance.