DHT Holdings had been on the prowl for attractive tonnage and then pounced, announcing the purchase of a modern VLCC.
The New York-listed tanker owner said it is paying $94.5m for the 2018-built ship, which was constructed at the blue-chip South Korean yard Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). The company did not name the vessel or its seller.
The transaction is the highest price paid in the sector since November but below current estimates for a vessel of the ship’s characteristics, according to valuation platform VesselsValue.
“We are constantly hunting high and low for opportunities that can bring value to our shareholders,” said chief executive Svein Moxnes Harfjeld.
“As always, the devil is in the details and this is a sister of vessels built by us in 2018, a design with large deadweight and premium earning capabilities, fitting well into the trading patterns of our key customers.”
The vessel, which will be delivered in the third quarter, has an exhaust gas scrubber, which allows it to burn high-sulphur fuel oil.
Monaco-headquartered DHT said the new VLCC was built to a high specification and will help improve the company’s fleet efficiencies, improving key emissions metrics.
“We expect this to become a good investment, delivering into a market with attractive prospects,” Harfjeld.
The vessel will join a DHT fleet of 23 VLCCs, all with scrubbers or with the installation of the equipment pending, according to Clarksons.
Other than two VLCCs already owned by DHT, there are only two ships in the world built at HHI in 2018, according to shipping databases. Both are owned by Greece’s Enesel.
VesselsValue estimates that vessels of their characteristics are worth $108m to $109m today.
Seven others were built at other yards in the Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings corporate umbrella.
Fearnley Securities assesses the ship as worth $100m, and at $103m including the scrubber.
The investment bank continues to see market support for modern vessels and believes there are potentially only a handful of opportunities to acquire such units in the secondhand arena.
Analysts led by Oystein Vaagen calculate a rate of $40,500 per day is needed over its remaining life to defend its valuation, assuming a 10% break-even margin.
Current one-year deals for these kind of ships are priced at $50,000 today.
The vessel will join the fleet in time for what is expected to be a strong winter season, and will boost earnings, Fearnley Securities believes.
