J. Lauritzen Takes Four Ships on Time-Charter

Danish shipping company J. Lauritzen added more vessels to its chartered fleet during the third quarter of 2017, as the dry cargo markets strengthened in the period.

The company said that it took three handysize bulk carriers on medium-term time-charter up to two years, with options to extend. Additionally, a smaller pressurized gas carrier was also taken on medium-term time-charter.

“Despite continued dry cargo improvements in Q3, a balanced market is still some time away,” Mads P. Zacho, CEO, said, adding that the company’s largest gas carriers remained negatively impacted “by the continued weak market conditions for the size segments above ours.”

J. Lauritzen unveiled the latest time charter deals as part of its financial results for the quarter ended September 30. The company’s EBITDA for the period amounted to USD -9.8 million, against USD -12.9 million reported in the third quarter of 2016.

The improvement was primarily due to the strengthening of dry cargo markets compared to the weak market conditions in 2016, however partially offset by weakened earnings for our gas carriers.

Capital injection from the company’s owner Lauritzen Fonden was also received during the quarter and the outstanding JLA02 corporate bond and related hedging debt was subsequently repaid, J. Lauritzen informed.

EBITDA for the first nine months of 2017 was at USD -23.2 million, an improvement from USD -43.1 million seen in the first nine months of 2016.

During the third quarter, J. Lauritzen’s average number of controlled bulk carriers reached 95, down from 98 controlled in the same period in 2016, while the average number of operated gas carriers reached 31 compared to 32 operated a year earlier.