EXMAR's Midsize fleet came into being in 1986 through a joint venture involving four vessels with Norwegian shipowners Christian Haaland and Bergesen with the acquisition of three Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGCs), EXCALIBUR (75,500m3), EXTOL (71,300m3) and FLOREAL (85,600m3) in a joint venture with Bergesen. EXMAR's involvement with these ships and joint ventures ended by 1987, with the company forming Metromar with John Frederikson's operation Metrogas to charter and operate VLGCs. In the same year , EXMAR ordered 4 midsize LPG vessels (28,000 - 34,000m3 range) for delivery in 1989 - 1990. Two of these vessels were sold with the other two (CHACONIA and SOMBEKE) serving the fleet for over a decade.
EXMAR also entered the modern ethylene/chemical gas carrier segment, cooperating with Metrogas to acquire three 10,500m3 ships under construction in Italy. These were delivered at the end of the 1980s and early nineties and joined EXMAR's LPG fleet as POLAR DISCOVERY, POLAR ENDURANCE and POLAR BELGICA.