Finland's ESL Shipping has chartered in three more vessels to respond to growing demand in the Baltic Sea bulker market.
The company said the trio of unnamed 6,000-dwt vessels had been brought in on time charters as a result of new customer agreements and improvements in general demand forecasts.
"The size and content of the time-chartering portfolio will be reviewed, also in the future, in accordance with any changes in the development and focus areas of customer demand," ESL said.
In the smaller vessel category, the company has saved money on chartering ships in, as the price level for renewals has fallen.
The fleet stood at 50 vessels at the end of 2020.
Financing solutions examined
The owner said it is also investigating opportunities to use different financing solutions for the ownership and funding of its vessels.
ESL added that this could include structures "used broadly in international shipping company operations" to speed up its operational development.
The shipowner also revealed that the deployment of crane automation on its two LNG-fuelled bulkers remains delayed.
ESL managing director Mikki Koskinen told TradeWinds that the delays are "only due to various Covid travel restrictions and safety measures on board our ships, preventing final testing which needs dedicated service engineers".
"We expect smooth testing once restrictions are lifted," he said.
Earnings down in fourth quarter
Fourth-quarter operating profit was €4.8m ($5.9m), up from €4.4m in 2019.
Revenue dipped to €41.2m against €45.3m the year before. All vessels sectors saw improved profitability.
ESL's business is mainly based on long-term customer contracts.
Aki Ojanen, chief executive of ESL's parent, Aspo Group, said: "As cargo markets started to return to normal, ESL Shipping was able to fulfil its potential, increased by investments and acquisitions, and reached strong results."
Cargo volumes transported by the fleet fell to 3.8m tonnes from 4m tonnes in the same period of 2019.
But raw material volumes in the steel industry increased in the last three months.
Volumes to increase
Full-year operating profit was cut to €7.6m against €14.6m in 2019.
Looking further into 2021, ESL expects cargoes to increase from the previous year.
"The general development of cargo markets will have the highest impact on the performance of the shipping company's largest supramax vessels," the shipowner said.
