Norway's Odfjell has no plans to order new chemical tankers for at least two years.
Speaking on a conference call with analysts, chief executive Kristian Morch said the company had just completed the largest fleet renewal programme in its history, through a combination of its own and chartered newbuildings.
The fleet now stands at 91 ships, with four pools in operation, including two formed in the fourth quarter with Navig8 Chemical Tankers and TRF.
"There will be no new orders for quite a while because of our modern fleet," Morch said.
But the CEO explained that the company will have to meet the International Maritime Organization's emissions reduction targets.
Newbuildings will eventually be needed
"That can't happen without newbuildings, but the technology doesn't exist yet on the scale we need. So no new orders for a couple of years, maybe even longer than that," Morch added.
He said new eco-designs will take a lot of time and effort. "We are working on several concepts," he added.
The company will take delivery of three chartered-in 25,700-dwt stainless-steel tankers from Imabari in Japan in 2022 and 2023.
Morch was also keen to stress that Odfjell remains a chemical tanker company, not a pool operator.
"Pools are not going to take over, but we can see that if you have good partners then we can use that as a tool. We're open for selective growth," he added.
Plus points for pools
The attraction of pools is the absence of a downside, plus an upside from a fixed fee and a management fee, plus a share of earnings if the ships perform well, Morch said.
They also help market consolidation without using the company's balance sheet.
"That's really important," Morch said.
"You don't have exactly the same upside as if you took a ship on time charter but you don't have any of the downside. It's just a good business for Odfjell to be in."
The group's net loss in the fourth quarter was $2.5m, compared with a loss of $10m a year ago, as terminal operations stayed negative.
