P.D. Gram & Co. AS

Contact Information

About

P.D. Gram & Co. AS is a Norwegian privately owned company, whose main business is arranging and managing shipping and real estate investments. The firm was founded in 1982 by Peter D. Gram as a partnership and was transformed to a limited company (AS) in 1995. Since 1982, P.D. Gram & Co. AS and its owner has been involved in syndication of more than 35 vessels with an investment value of over USD 400 mill. Most of these investments have, until they have been sold, been managed commercially by P.D. Gram & Co. AS. The firm started its business by specializing in managing and arranging investments of car carriers, where the vessels were timechartered to the major operators. Subsequently, in the mid eighties, the firm expanded into the tanker sector. The car carrier market remains the primary area of interest, while on the tanker side focus is on specialized vessels like LPG tankers. In 1987 the firm started a real estate section, arranging and managing mainly office properties in Oslo. Real estate investments have subsequently been developed in the rapidly growing Polish market, where a separate organization has been established with partners. The investments in vessels are held by different investor groups organized by P.D. Gram & Co. AS in different jurisdictions. The management activities are primarily carried out from the main office located at Aker Brygge in the centre of Oslo. A sister company with the name of Gram Agencies (UK) Ltd. was formed in 1995 simultaneously with Mr. Gram taking up residence in London. This is a representative office to better maintain international financing and investment contacts.

P.D. Gram & Co. AS is normally the commercial manager of the investments. Several of the investments are bareboat chartered and daily operations are handled by the charterer. For vessels trading on timecharter or in the spot market, P.D. Gram & Co. AS contracts out the maritime management, including crewing, insurance and technical maintenance to first class ship managers. While different management organizations have been used for this purpose, the closest connection is with C.H. Sørensen & Sønner of Arendal, Norway. This is a traditional and highly regarded Norwegian shipping company which through its associated company C.H. Sørensen Management AS has technical management of 14 vessels, including tankers, Obo's, LPG vessels, car carriers, reefers and bulk carriers. C.H. Sørensen has ownership positions in approximately half the ships under management. The technical management of the P.D.Gram & Co's vessels not leased out on bareboat charter is now being handled by C.H. Sørensen Management AS, Arendal. Peter D. Gram is Chairman of C.H. Sørensen and is a major shareholder in the company. P.D. Gram & Co. AS' management tasks is defined in the management agreement entered into with each shipowning company. Normally it includes all commercial aspects of the operation, including financing, cash management, chartering of the vessels and operational follow-up. However, the number of tasks vary from project to project.