New York-listed DHT Holdings has entered "wait-and-see mode" when it comes to adding more secondhand tonnage to the fleet.

But at the same time, the tanker owner is done with clearing out older tonnage as it awaits a market recovery.

That was the take on Wednesday from co-chief executive officer Svein Moxnes Harfjeld in a chat with equity analysts after the VLCC owner had presented better-than-expected first quarter earnings.

While DHT has both the appetite and the financial liquidity to add to the fleet, as it wants more "eco" tonnage built 2015 or later, management feels the sale-and-purchase market has become a bit overheated, Harfjeld explained.

"Values or at least sellers' asking prices have moved up a bit quicker than we had hoped, leading us in a wait-and-see mode for now," he said.

DHT acquired two scrubber-fitted, 2016-built VLCCs the first quarter.

Two different equity analysts pressed Harfjeld and co-CEO Trygve Munthe on the pause.

Jonathan Chappell of Evercore ISI asked whether now is "the sweet spot" given the possible further inflation of asset prices amid demand recovery.

A similar tack came from Clarksons Platou Securities analyst Omar Nokta.

Amid rising steel prices, "what happens if values just don't come down, but they just continue on this upward trajectory?" he asked.

"Is that a concern that you might miss the boat here?"

Munthe responded that this might be the case if steel prices rise forever.

"But we think that the steel market is cyclical as is everything else that we do in shipping. So we're not convinced that it is off to a one-way trajectory upwards," he said.

"But I think those were the kind of arguments that drove this market off its hinges some 10, 15 years ago when people were contracting new ships for $150m for VLCCs, because they thought it was different this time. And they regretted that for years afterwards."

Harfjeld also ruled out newbuildings as too risky given the uncertainty of future propulsions systems, too expensive at current prices and too likely to contribute to a glut of tonnage supply.

On the other hand, DHT also sold two 17-year-old ships in the quarter past.

Analyst Chris Tsung of Webber Research & Advisory noted that DHT still has seven tankers that are around 14 years old. He asked whether it could be time for more sales to boost liquidity given the current trough market for VLCC rates.

Again Harfjeld counselled patience. DHT has ample liquidity given recent actions that include a new $316m credit facility, he said.

"And this industry overshoots in both directions, right? So of course, now it's a dreadful market. But the optionality of these vintages that you now refer to is significant," he said.

"They certainly have an opportunity to dance in another sort of recovery and generate earnings for our shareholders as we proved in the past. So we have no intention to sell additional ships this side of the recovery."