- CEO
- Torbjoern Gjervik
- Full Time Employees
- 94
- Sector
- Industrials
- Industry
- Marine Shipping
- Address
- Henrik Ibsensgt. 100 Oslo Norway 0230
- IPO Date
- Dec 6, 2021
- Business
- Western Bulk Chartering AS (WSSTF) operates as a leading global dry bulk shipping company, specializing in chartering and operating vessels in the Supramax, Ultramax, Handysize, and Panamax segments for the transportation of commodities including minerals, ores, coal, grains, agri-products, steel products, bauxite, cement, timber, fertilizers, ferrous products, clinker, slag, iron ore, and pet-coke; it employs an asset-light model with a chartered-in fleet averaging 120-150 vessels, including spot, time charter trip, and period time charter vessels, supported by proprietary risk management, market analytics, and freight derivatives trading via forward freight agreements (FFAs), bunker swaps, and other financial instruments. The company serves over 300 cargo customers worldwide, including producers, trading houses, and receivers, with diversified operations across commodities (e.g., 29% ores, 23% coal, 19% agri/grains, 10% minerals), geographies (34% Far East, 22% Europe, 19% India discharges), and trade routes spanning North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Pacific/US West Coast, and Panamax desks; it maintains offices in Oslo (headquarters), Singapore, Dubai, Seattle, Santiago, and Casablanca. Founded in 1982 and headquartered at Henrik Ibsensgt. 100 in Oslo, Norway, Western Bulk is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under ticker WEST (ISIN NO0010768096) and majority-owned by Kistefos AS (approximately 69%). In recent developments, the company restructured its operations in 2024, reducing annual G&A costs by 15% to USD 22 million through redundancies and efficiency measures, while improving net time charter (TC) results to USD 24.4 million (up USD 15 million from 2023) amid a volatile dry bulk market; it appointed Torbjørn Gjervik as CEO in September 2024, following interim leadership, and enhanced focus on data-driven fleet optimization, FuelEU Maritime compliance tools, and performance culture to pursue top-tier industry results; the group ended 2024 with USD 28.4 million in free cash, no interest-bearing debt, and quarterly dividend payouts targeting 80% of net profits since its 2021 listing.