Bloomberg: Wilbur Ross: Ship Deals to Accelerate after Slump

“Wilbur Ross, the billionaire chairman of private-equity firm WL Ross & Co., said he expects transactions in shipping to accelerate after charter rates slumped because of a supply glut. The 73-year-old is part of a group of investors that bought a fleet of 30 ships hauling gasoline, diesel and other refined products for about $900 million. The transaction was completed last night at midnight, Ross said at Bloomberg Link’s Dealmakers Summit in New York today. Owners of supertankers ordered the most vessels in about three decades in 2007 and 2008, when charter rates rose as high as $289,000 a day, just as the world economy entered its worst recession since World War II. The vessels, which haul about 20 percent of the world’s oil, are now making $393, according to data from Poten & Partners, a New York-based consultant.”