In 2016, we entered into time-charter agreements for five stainless steel chemical tankers, two on long-term charter and three on terms ranging from two to five years. Three existing vessels on time-charter were redelivered to owners.
In July, the vessel Bow Sailor was sold and delivered to new owners. Bow Master entered into a three-year bareboat charter with a third party and she was delivered to the new owners in November 2016. Charterer had a purchase obligation at the end of the charter.
The construction of Odfjell Gas newbuildings continues to be significantly delayed. As a consequence we have per end of February 2017 cancelled four of the newbuilding contracts. All paid instalments, including accrued interest for the cancelled vessels, have been refunded. We expect that the four remaining vessels will be cancelled during 2017.
As a result of our long-term growth strategy in South America, Odfjell acquired the remaining 50% equity share in our existing Chilean chemical tanker joint venture in October. The joint venture owns the fully stainless vessels Bow Andes and Bow Condor, both 16,000 dwt, built in 2000.
In October 2016, we announced newbuilding contracts for the construction of a series of 4+2+2 chemical tankers with 33 stainless steel cargo tanks and cargo capacity of 54,600 cbm. These vessels will be delivered in 2019 and 2020, and will be the largest stainless steel chemical tankers in the world.
In addition, we have entered into long-term charters for an additional four stainless steel chemical tankers from 35,500 to 36,000 dwt with 28 tanks for delivery from 2019 to 2020. We expect delivery of another 26,000 dwt stainless steel chemical tanker with 26 tanks during Q1 2017, and have concluded one additional vessel for delivery Q1 2018. These vessels are sophisticated tonnage that will complement and grow our existing fleet and further contribute to solving our customers’ present and future requirements.
Project Felix was a success with USD 110 million in annual savings. Project Moneyball was launched early 2016 and is progressing as planned, focusing on operational excellence and reducing time in port. We can already see significant improvements within several areas of our operations, which add positively to the utilisation of the fleet, improves scheduling predictability and reduces demurrage for our customers.
In December 2016, Odfjell Terminals BV sold its 29.75% indirect ownership in Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals & Co. LLC in Oman for about USD 130 million. The divestment of the Oman terminal is in line with a strategy to focus on the terminals where we have managerial control of the assets and to further invest in growth opportunities in our core markets.
We are currently implementing a ‘Value Creation Programme’ at Odfjell Terminals. The programme is based on our key learnings from Project Felix and Project Moneyball, and has two main focus points: To ‘Improve and grow the core’, and to ‘Grow outside the core’. We aim to improve our service level and operational performance at our key terminals in Rotterdam and Houston, and will implement a Rotterdam specific strategy – the ‘OTR Masterplan’ – to get this terminal’s capacity back on line and develop available land banks.
In connection with the fourth quarter 2016 report, we introduced our new strategy for 2017 and beyond, called the ‘Odfjell Compass’. Our key focus will be to continue with our tonnage renewal and fleet growth plans for our advanced chemical tanker fleet, combined with high quality service and operational excellence at sea and on shore. Furthermore, we aim to return to meaningful profitability levels at the terminals through the Value Creation Programme. At the same time, we will continue to build financial strength with a competitive cost of capital.
Moving forward, we will follow the three guiding principles of the Odfjell Compass: We do not compromise on safety, Chemical Tankers and Terminals are our core business, and: To be a leading world class player, we need to have world class ambitions in everything we do.