Euronav, Bretta Pull the Plug on Suezmax JV

Belgium’s tanker owner and operator Euronav NV has agreed with Bretta Tanker Holdings Inc. (Bretta) to terminate their Suezmax joint venture.

The joint venture covers four Suezmax vessels: the Captain Michael (2012 – 157,648 dwt), the Maria (2011 – 157,523 dwt), the Eugenie (2010 – 157,672 dwt) and the Devon (2011 – 157,642 dwt).

As stipulated under the agreement, Euronav will assume full ownership of the two youngest vessels, the Captain Michael and the Maria, and Bretta will assume full ownership of the Eugenie and the Devon.

Euronav said that it intends to compensate its partner for the difference in value due to the younger age profile of the ships it will own as well as the voyages in progress.

In addition, the company will pay Bretta the sum of USD 15.1 million upon closing the transaction which is foreseen to take place in the current quarter.

“The termination of the joint venture will allow us to account directly for what was our share in the joint venture instead of having to use the equity method,” the company said.

In its yearly report for 2015, Euronav revealed that it had decided with its joint venture partner Bretta to sell their share in the joint venture companies formed for the purpose of ordering and owning four Suezmax tankers.

Euronav said that in February this year both partners decided to start marketing the four Suezmaxes for a potential sale in 2016 in order to determine the fair value of each ship.

The report also showed that Euronav returned to full-year profit, recording USD 350 million in earnings, against USD 45 million loss from 2014.