Precious Shipping eyes 47 vessels as leadership changes in 2027

Precious Shipping expects to operate 47 vessels totaling about 2.34 million deadweight tonnes once its outstanding ultramax newbuildings arrive. That target places the renewal program under new operating leadership from Jan. 1, 2027.

Thailand's Bangkok-listed dry-bulk owner disclosed in a Stock Exchange of Thailand filing that its board had approved the reshuffle. Khalid Moinuddin Hashim will move from managing director to executive vice chairman, and chief financial officer Gautam Khurana will take over running the company. Both appointments take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

Khurana will remain the company's finance director until a successor is appointed. Both executives will retain seats on the board of directors and the executive board. Their responsibilities change, but neither disappears from the governance structure.

Hashim has led Precious for more than three decades and helped build it into one of Thailand's most prominent dry-bulk owners. The company dates its establishment to 1989 and its stock-market listing to 1993.

Khurana joined Precious in 2018 as chief financial officer and became finance director in 2019. Before that, he spent a decade at DVB Bank in London and Singapore, working in maritime finance, structured asset financing and leasing.

The succession comes during a major fleet-renewal program. Precious has sold aging handysize and supramax vessels while expanding its ultramax fleet.

In September, the company returned to Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering in China for four 64,500 dwt ultramax newbuildings worth $141.8 million combined. Deliveries are scheduled from April 2030 through January 2031, putting the average price at about $35.45 million per vessel.

• Earlier order: four 63,500 dwt ultramaxes at the same yard for $133.46 million, or about $33.37 million each. Two have entered service; two remain due through the first quarter of 2027.
• Combined program: eight ultramax newbuildings worth $275.26 million, with six vessels still to deliver.

Once the outstanding newbuildings arrive, Precious expects to reach 47 vessels totaling about 2.34 million dwt. The target reflects the retirement of older handysize and supramax tonnage alongside a larger ultramax fleet.

The company has also moved beyond dry bulk. Earlier this year, it entered the MR product-tanker market through direct acquisitions and its 45%-owned Nusantara Maritime joint venture.

What does this change for shippers, carriers and forwarders?

For shippers, Jan. 1 changes who runs Precious, not the rate card. The filing provides no rate move, trade lane or cargo allocation, so it offers no basis for an immediate landed-cost adjustment. What changes over time is the equipment mix: older handysize and supramax ships have been sold, while six more ultramaxes remain to enter service.

For carriers and chartering peers, those six deliveries could change the mix of tonnage Precious offers the market. The effect on charter rates will depend on delivery timing and the balance between new deadweight tonnes and the tonnage already sold. No charter-rate forecast comes with the appointment notice.

For forwarders, Precious now offers exposure to both dry bulk and MR product tankers through a single owner relationship. The tanker entry came through direct acquisitions and the 45%-owned Nusantara Maritime venture. Without routes, schedules or cargo commitments, though, forwarders cannot treat this as the launch of a new service.

Precious itself is handing operating responsibility to Khurana while its $275.26 million newbuilding program continues. Hashim remains executive vice chairman and a member of both boards; Khurana stays finance director until a successor arrives. The title changes; the delivery schedule does not.

The next milestones are concrete: two 63,500 dwt deliveries through the first quarter of 2027, then four 64,500 dwt ships between April 2030 and January 2031. Any eventual capacity or rate effect will emerge as those ships enter service and reshape the fleet's older profile. For now, Precious has offered a succession plan, not a market forecast.