Anders Wilhelmsen and Wilbur Ross have finally managed to strike a profitable charter deal for one of their expensive so-called 'eco' VLCCs.
The 320,000-dwt Eco Leader (built 2016) has been fixed for a year by Hyundai Glovis at $38,000 per day, reflecting the recent sharp increase in the period rates for VLCCs.
A couple of weeks ago such ships only earned $32,000 per day on 12 month charters.
Their joint venture company, Awilco Eco Tankers, has a fleet of four sisterships.
One of them, Eco Future (built 2016) has been on charter to Valero since it was new, with an option to extend this tanker for one more year.
Hyundai Glovis also had Eco Leader on charter until the end of last year at $32,000 per day. The other two units are operating spot.
Jens-Julius Ramdahl Nygaard, managing director of Awilco Eco Tankers, confirmed that Eco Leader had been fixed out for a period, but declined to comment on the details.
“We did this from a total view on our portfolio,” he said.
Nygaard suggested that 2019 will be a demanding year for tanker owners due to over-ordering of new vessels.
Awilco Eco Tankers' four sisterships were ordered for about $97m each at DSME, above todays price of around $93m.
But the owner argues they economical to operate as they burn no more fuel than an average suezmax tanker.
Nygaard says Awilco Eco Tankers would take an opportunistic approach to further investments in the tanker sector.
The VLCCs are operated from Anders Wilhelmsen’s offices at Aker Brygge in Oslo.
