Milan-listed d’Amico International Shipping (DIS) is taking advantage of what appears to be a growing appetite for period employment in the MR tanker market.
DIS said on Tuesday that it had secured a two-year charter described only as “very profitable” for one of its MR2 carriers starting at the end of this month.
Echo of Scorpio
The announcement comes two weeks after US-listed Scorpio Tankers clinched a record charter rate, booking the 50,000-dwt STI Jardins (built 2018) for three years at $29,950 per day.
That fixture equates to $32.8m over the full period and is believed to be the best-ever such rate for a non-scrubber eco MR, market sources told TradeWinds.
DIS was not as specific about its new charter, which was nonetheless touted by chief executive Carlos Balestra di Mottola.
“I am pleased to announce that DIS has signed a new long-term time charter contract with a reputable counterparty at a very profitable daily rate,” di Mottola said.
“Through this deal, we continue to advance our strategic goal of gradually increasing our contract coverage to ensure stable earnings in the months and years ahead, benefiting from strong market fundamentals.”
For the fourth quarter, DIS now has 34% of days covered at a time charter equivalent rate of $26,629 per day.
It has fixed 22% of available 2025 days at a TCE of $24,655, and 15% of 2026 capacity at $23,743 per day.
Tanker brokerage BRS estimated a one-year time charter rate for an eco MR2 at $28,500 per day, or $30,000 for an eco ship with a scrubber.
Over three years, the numbers reduced to $26,000 and $27,000, respectively.
DIS said in its second-quarter earnings statement that it is keeping its half-dozen LR1s largely exposed to the spot market while being more willing to fix out its MRs.
