Danish product tanker owner Torm has doubled its investment in scrubbers having ridden a recovering market to record its best quarterly results in three years.
Copenhagen and Nasdaq-listed Torm banked a pre-tax profit of $23.5m for the opening three months of 2019, up from $1.1m at the same stage in 2018.
The standout news in its report, however, was the move to boost its scrubber commitment to span around half of its fleet.
Torm revealed last summer it would install scrubbers on 14 ships, including all 10 of its newbuildings on order at Guangzhou Shipyard International at that time.
In November 2018 it formed a new joint venture with scrubber manufacturer ME Production and GSI.
“We have extended our scrubber commitment with an additional 13 units, which will bring the total number of scrubber-fitted vessels to 34, or close to half of our fleet,” executive director Jacob Meldgaard said today.
All of the new retrofits will be undertaken through the partnership with ME and GSI.
“With this balanced approach, Torm is well-positioned to reap the benefits of the increased demand for clean petroleum products expected from the implementation of the IMO 2020 regulation,” Meldgaard added.
All bar two of the ships to be fitted with scrubbers will have the equipment on board by the time the new emissions rules kick in at the start of 2020, the shipowner said.
“Torm will finance the scrubber installations through a combination of additional debt and cash-in-hand,” it added in its first quarter report.
Meldgaard described the first quarter results as a reflection of a significant market recovery which started in the fourth quarter of 2018.
He added second quarter bookings indicated a continued positive product tanker market.
Torm has a fleet of 69 owned ships, three on time charter and nine newbuildings still on order.
