DHT Holdings is eyeing time charter contracts for some of its VLCC newbuildings, having moved up their delivery dates.
The New York-listed shipowner is also confident of securing finance on the vessels, which were ordered earlier this year at a time of intense interest in big tanker shipyard berths.
Chief executive Svein Moxnes Harfjeld said the thoughts around period employment for the vessels fit a wider ambition to increase contract cover.
He said charterers had shown some initial interest in the newbuilds. However, it had not yet hit a level that “provides for negotiations”.
“We have the intention and interest in seeing if we can develop this,” he told analysts on the company’s second-quarter conference call today.
“I think it will take a bit of time, and it’s probably a next year event, if we decide to pursue that.
“So, it is our ambition to build more long-term, and fixed income for the company in general.
“And these ships will offer some very interesting opportunities for a couple of three clients, in particular, that have shown interest.”
DHT has six of its 24 trading VLCCs on time charter, with the rest trading spot.
It revealed last month that the initial delivery dates of its four newbuildings had moved forward from between April and December 2026 to between February and July 2026.
“We have achieved meaningful improvements in the delivery schedules for all four ships,” Harfjeld said. “This results in a significant increase in revenue days for the year.”
The average cost of the four VLCCs, split evenly between HD Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean, is $130m. Instalments of $51.4m have been paid to date.
Chief financial officer Laila Halvorsen said: “We've looked into different financing projects, and we are very pleased with the suggestions that we have, but nothing is decided yet.”
DHT held options for further newbuildings but has decided against taking them up.
Harfjeld said the capital expenditure commitments for further tankers would have changed the structure of the company’s balance sheet considerably had the options been taken up.
“And we had no desire to do that,” he said. “So, the core plan was all along to do the four ships, and with a caveat that if we had had some early interest, to develop true long-term charters, say, seven, eight years or longer.
“If that had happened earlier, we could develop some particular financing for that. That’s something we might have considered for one, two, or all four ships, but that did not materialise. So, we felt it prudent to do the four ships and we were happy with that.”
As TradeWinds reported yesterday, DHT Holdings reported a dip in second-quarter profit as it felt China’s downward pull on VLCC rates.
Profit of $44.5m was down from $57.1m a year earlier and from $47.1m in the first quarter.
