Genco Shipping & Trading is aiming for a full pullout from bulker pools, as the company continues to bolster its in-house commercial management platform.
President and chief executive John Wobensmith said the New York bulker owner expects to have all of its vessels currently in pools redelivered by mid-November.
They will enter Genco's own commercial operation, where Jesper Christensen, formerly of Clipper Bulk, is overseeing employment of the company's smaller vessel classes.
TradeWinds reported in May that Genco was aiming to reduce its exposure to commercial pools, but it was not clear at that time how sweeping the move would be.
Under previous chief executive Peter Georgiopoulos, the company had served as a tonnage provider but was nonetheless exposed to the spot market through a combination of pool memberships and index-based term charters.
Following a restructuring and management shakeup, the 60-bulker owner has been building up its commercial management capacity in a bid to get closer to cargo interests.
"We have made significant progress building out our commercial platform as we provide a full-service logistics solutions to cargo owners, incorporating voyage charters and direct cargo loadings to our service offering," Wobensmith said in an earnings briefing.
New York-listed Genco has taken steps to withdraw ships from its pool partners.
The company started the second quarter of this year with 19 handysize and supramax vessels in Clipper Group and Torvald Klaveness pools.
The 30,000-dwt Genco Explorer (built 1999) and 28,400-dwt Genco Challenger (built 2003) have now departed the Clipper Logger Pool for short-term charters, Genco employment data shows.
The 58,000-dwt Genco Ardennes (built 2009), and Genco Brittany, Genco Pyrenees and Genco Languedoc (all built 2010) have similarly exited the Clipper Sapphire Pool.
Six vessels remain in the pools run by Denmark's Clipper.
Seven supramaxes remain in Klaveness' Bulkhandling Handymax pool, but Genco's agreement allows it to exit with three months' notice.
Meanwhile, Wobensmith says Genco is also working to establish a Singapore presence, where it has identified an executive to run the new office as head of major bulk.
The Singapore team will focus on employment of the company's capesize fleet as well as securing backhaul cargoes for smaller vessels carrying minor bulks.
"This is expected to enable Genco to have real-time management of the capesize fleet to augment earnings and to allow us to continue to expand our access to cargo providers," Wobensmith said.
The Singapore office will also help the company implement its commercial presence across the fleet, with cargo-focused changes already underway in the minor bulk sector.
Genco Shipping & Trading's net loss of $14.5m during the second quarter was better than analysts expected and showed a significant improvement from the nearly $111m from a year earlier.
| Q2 2017 | Q2 2016 | |
| Revenue | $45,370,000 | $31,874,000 |
| Operating expenses | $52,607,000 | $132,640,000 |
| Operating loss | $7,237,000 | $100,766,000 |
| Net loss | $14,513,000 | $110,653,000 |
| Earnings per share | $0.42 | $15.32 |
