Speculation that Ardmore Shipping is looking to move into the pooling business at a time of active consolidation in the products tanker market is off the mark, its chief executive says.
Talk in the market during the past week has suggested the company is in the process of establishing a pooling business, initially in its core medium-range (MR) sector.
Some had also floated Teekay, with which Ardmore has a strong historic connection, as a potential partner in the project.
Tony Gurnee, chief executive of Ardmore Shipping, tells TradeWinds his company is developing its chartering business but is not setting up a pool or hunting third-party clients.
He says the confusion is likely to have come due to internal efforts to create a more pool-like structure for its chartering department, including new ways to measure performance.
While dismissing the idea of Ardmore forming a pool for now, Gurnee leaves the door open for the future, suggesting the situation “may change down the road”.
Following the purchase of Frontline’s MR fleet in 2016, Ardmore has 27 ships on the water. Eight of those are in pools run by Vitol and Navig8, and Gurnee confirms there are no plans to withdraw the ships from either platform. The other 19 tankers are trading in the spot market under the direct control of Ardmore’s own chartering desks.
Ardmore, based in Cork, Ireland, has been developing its in-house chartering business, headed by Gernot Ruppelt, and has offices in Cork, Houston and Singapore.
According to its last annual report, revenue from Vitol and Navig8 accounted for more than 10% of Ardmore’s top-line income in 2015 and 2016.
Its spot and pool-trading MR tankers recorded average rates of $13,131 per day in the first quarter of 2017, contributing to a core operating profit of $11.7m for the period.
