Belgium's Exmar has agreed to sell three elderly LPG carriers owned through a joint venture.
The 12,020-cbm Temse (built 1995), 39,270-cbm Touraine (built 1996) and 35,454-cbm Brussels (built 1997) are controlled by Exmar LPG BVBA, owned 50:50 by Exmar and Teekay LNG Partners.
Brokers report the Touraine, acquired from Wah Kwong in 2013, as already sold to an unknown United Arab Emirates company for an undisclosed price.
The ship has been renamed Jade Emperor.
VesselsValue rates the carrier as worth $10.1m, while the Temse is assessed at $3.9m and the Brussels at $11m.
Clarksons lists the venture as having 17 mid-size LPG carriers after the sales.
One of these dates from 1999 but most are less than seven years old.
Exmar said two of the three ships sold are debt-free.
The deals helped boost net profit in the first half, which rose to $32.7m, compared with $4.4m in the same period of 2020.
The shipowner said it was able to write back $3.2m of impairments on the trio.
Revenue rose to $107.9m, against $89m a year ago, while the operating result from the conventional shipping segment amounted to $17.6m for the first half, against $11.3m for the same period in 2020.
The company was also boosted by increased time-charter rates for the mid-size (MGC) fleet and lower depreciation charges.
Strong start to 2021
The LPG freight market began the year strongly, the company said, with VLGCs volatile.
This in turn steered MGC rates to record levels for the company's ships in February.
"Seasonal shifts and changing arbitrage pricing primarily for the US Gulf to Far East route caused volatility, especially for the VLGCs while the mid-size remained more stable," Exmar added.
"We have continued to extend vessels to existing and new long-term customers reaching fleet charter coverage already to an excess of 90% for 2021 and 50% for 2022," the owner added.
With firm commodity prices and strong energy demand both for LPG and ammonia, freight markets are expected to remain stable for the remainder of the year, the company said.
LNG carriers experienced a short dip in rates during the early months of 2021.
"The market did recover fast thereafter and remained firm for the remainder of the first half year," Exmar said.
