Danish product tanker owner Torm is setting up a base in Dubai ahead of an expected boom in oil product output.
The company said the new office will open early next year so that staff can be nearer to clients.
“Torm values being close to its customers in order to support their current and future business needs,” it said.
In the next three years, 30% of new global refinery capacity will be added in the Middle East, Torm believes.
“We want to be close to our customers and close to our operations,” said Peter Lindberg Jensen, global head of chartering.
“We are very excited about getting a local presence in the region by opening an office in Dubai and look forward to the new opportunities which will come from this.”
A Torm spokesperson told TradeWinds: “Initially, we will be staffing the office with some of our skilled chartering colleagues from Singapore who will relocate to Dubai.”
The company has a fleet of 79 tankers operated from Denmark, as well as two offices in India and two in the Philippines, plus bases in London, Houston and Singapore.
Torm is also welcoming two new trainees to its graduate programme.
Gustav Sorensen and Synne Riiser have already visited the office in Houston while studying at Texas A&M University.
The trainees have now started their careers with Torm in Copenhagen.
The shipowner saw a sharp rise in second-quarter profits on the back of surging rates as the world emerged from Covid-19 lockdowns.
It reported earnings of $106.6m, up from $2.1m a year earlier, as rates doubled owing to stronger energy demands and the upheaval in trading routes following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
