Norway’s Hunter Group is making an instant profit after taking delivery of its second chartered-in VLCC.
The unnamed tanker has been brought in for three years at $51,000 per day.
The vessel has been fixed straight back to its owner on a floating rate linked to the Baltic Exchange’s benchmark tanker assessment.
On 15 March, the index-linked spot rate was $64,100 per day, implying a daily margin of about $13,100 for the ship.
Two VLCCs are now chartered out by Hunter to “internationally renowned counterparties”.
The company said it would continue to monitor tanker markets, “hunting for more accretive opportunities”.
“The orderbook for newbuild VLCCs remains at a historically low level, oil demand forecasts have recently been revised upwards and a substantial portion of the fleet is approaching retirement age,” the Oslo-listed firm added.
Hunter reiterated its view that “the stage is set” for historically high VLCC rates over the next three years.
Clarksons Securities assessed eco VLCC spot rates at $64,600 per day on Monday, up nearly 14% in a week.
During February, Hunter achieved an average rate of $57,000 per day for its sole big tanker up to that point.
Healthy margin
The unnamed ship is fixed in at a rate of $52,500 for three years, giving a time charter equivalent margin of $4,500 per day.
The tanker was operational for all 29 days last month.
The company banked a net time charter profit of $130,861 in what was a strong market.
The VLCC earned $54,200 per day in December and $48,260 per day in January.
Fearnley Securities believes there is enough cash to charter in a third tanker.
The company will then benefit from economies of scale on the cost side, the investment bank said.
