The Hunter Group's tankers outperformed those of its peers in the third quarter this year, but major shareholder Arne Fredly has claimed that the figures could have been even better.
He said other shareholders persuaded the Oslo-listed VLCC owner to shift its chartering strategy.
“We had set up a concrete plan, but were not able to fully implement it as we were disturbed by people around us and got a little greedy,” he told Norwegian financial daily Finansavisen.
“In that respect we were paid a little too poorly from what we aimed to achieve.”
Hunter is a small Oslo-listed VLCC owner after selling two of its seven tankers.
They netted on average revenue of $59,700 per day in the third quarter, while John Fredriksen’s Frontline's VLCCs made $49,200 per day, DHT Holdings reported $48,100 per day and Euronav logged $42,000 per day.
In the fourth quarter, 88% of Hunter’s VLCCs are covered at an average rate of $41,400 per day, while Frontline has fixed 74% of its VLCC days at $22,600 per day.
Fredly said Hunter planned to charter out all its tankers on period deals, when the rates were high.
“We thought the market was firm in March and April and thought that it was set to fall,” he said in Finansavisen. “Some of the Hunter shareholders had a different view and made us hold back.
“When we fixed one of our tankers long term at $85,000 per day, I was mobbed by the corporate boss of one of Oslo’s broking houses, who suggested we had locked in a tanker far too cheaply.”
