US tanker owner Overseas Shipholding Group doubled its profits in the fourth quarter of 2023 after cutting voyage expenses with a smaller fleet, the company said on Monday.

Net profit was $20.4m compared with $10.1m in the same period the previous year after the re-delivery of three tankers leased from American Shipping Company in December 2022, the OSG said.

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The company also revealed it had bought the 193,000-dwt tanker Alaskan Frontier (built 2004) in November last year for $20m, which had been in cold lay-up since 2019.

The suezmax is expected to begin commercial operations in the final quarter of this year.

In October, OSG chief executive Sam Norton said engine upgrades and ballast water treatment installation would bring the total capital cost of the vessel to $50m.

The company said the engines would be prepared for possible use of methanol fuel.

Shipping revenues in the fourth quarter were $116m, down $5.7m, or 4.7%, compared with the previous year, largely owing to the smaller fleet, OSG said.

The New-York listed tanker owner controls 21 vessels, 13 of which are owned with the rest chartered in. They include 13 MR product carriers and four crude tankers.

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Full-year revenues were $451.9m, down 3.2% compared with 2022. Net income for the year was $62.5m compared with $26.6m last year.

“Strong fundamentals have continued to support charterer interest in our vessels,” Norton said.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with our 2023 results and believe we are well-positioned now, and over the long term, to generate strong cash flows in what we expect to be a durably balanced market characterised by stable demand and constrained supply.”

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