Euronav: Falling tanker fares have hurt profits

The low fares that dominated the tanker market during the first quarter of 2021, which followed a completely opposite direction from those of bulk dry shipping, also negatively affected the results of Euronav, which manages a fleet of 75 tankers.

The company’s turnover decreased to $113.4million as against 416.6 million in the first quarter of 2020 resulting in a loss of $ 71 million down from $ 225.6 million a year ago

Hugo De Stoop, CEO of Euronav cited, among other things, the market conditions and low fares, which prevailed in the first quarter of 2021 and in the current quarter. Mobility restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic continue to affect global crude consumption. He described the reduction of cuts in OPEC + productions as an encouraging sign, although the capacity of the global fleet remains at high levels.

However, the CEO of Euronav is confident that the market will recover in the medium term, so his company rushed to take advantage of the low values ​​of tankers and make new investments in both VLCC and Suezmax in the first quarter.

At the same time, he stressed that the new ecological ships it is building in the shipyards will be a key part of her strategy to reduce emissions from her fleet.

Euronav in the first quarter of 2021 entered into a sale and lease back agreement for VLCC Newton (2009, 307,284 dwt) with Taiping & Sinopec Financial Leasing Co., Ltd . The vessel was sold for $ 36 million and the transaction yielded capital profits of $ 1.2 million for the company while it also increased its liquidity by $ 19 million.

In addition, in February, Euronav announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire two eco-Suezmax through resale, the construction of which is now being completed at the Daehan shipyard in South Korea.

The two ships were purchased at a total price of $ 113 million and are expected to be delivered in January 2022. The ships will be able to use LNG and ammonia as fuel in the future.

Finally in April, Euronav entered into an agreement with Hyundai Samho to build two VLCCs, which will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 at a total cost of $ 186 million, including $ 4.2 million in additions and upgrades to regulatory standards.

Euronav is also able to contract for another VLCC with the same specifications for delivery in the second quarter of 2023. Ships will be able to use LNG and ammonia as fuel.