New York-listed Navigator Holdings has found new employment for two LPG carriers that have been on charter to a Russian company after choosing not to extend employment that ends next month.
“The charterparties that expire in June 2022 will not be extended and both vessels have instead been chartered for a 12-month period with a leading Nordic producer of petrochemicals,” Navigator said in its first-quarter earnings report on Monday.
The two are among four vessels Navigator had on to the charterer, with the remaining two to expire in December 2023.
“These charterparties cannot be terminated without the consent of both parties, unless the counterparty was to become a sanctioned entity or our dealings with that counterparty were to be otherwise prohibited by sanctions, which would render the charters void,” Navigator noted in the statement.
VesselsValue data shows three ships are commercially controlled by Russia’s largest petrochemicals producer, Sibur.
They are the 20,500-cbm Navigator Leo (built 2011) and Navigator Libra (built 2012) and the 22,000-cbm Navigator Yauza (built 2017).
The Navigator Leo was fixed for 10 years and 11 months at $900,000 per month in 2012, while the Navigator Libra was booked for 10 years. No rate is given for that deal.
The Navigator Yauza is on a five-year charter from 2017.
Navigator said it also continues to employ a large number of both Ukrainian and Russian seafarers, often on the same vessels. The total number has fallen from 120 the below 100, the owner said.
Otherwise Navigator reported stronger first-quarter earnings premised on better rates and a larger fleet, turning in net income of $27m or $0.35 per share, compared to $2.8m or $0.05 per share in the first quarter of 2021.
Adjusted net income was $0.16 per share compared to $0.04 in the same quarter a year earlier.
Navigator’s unadjusted number missed the consensus expectations of Wall Street analysts by $0.13 per share, according to SeekingAlpha.
Operating revenues increased to $100.4m, a 27% increase from $80.5m in the first quarter of 2021.
“The Ukrainian conflict is disrupting traditional supply sources, challenging the historical sourcing of product supply from the closest geographical location,” Navigator said in earnings commentary.
“European customers are increasingly looking further afield when sourcing products, which results in longer seaborne voyages for the gas shipping industry. This is true for all the products we transport, across LPGs, petrochemicals and ammonia.”
