Two More MR Tankers Join Ardmore Shipping

Bermuda-headquartered tanker owner and operator Ardmore Shipping Corporation has taken delivery of the fourth and fifth of the six Eco tankers acquired in June this year. 

The two vessels, the Ardmore Engineer and the Ardmore Encounter, joined the company’s fleet on September 12 and 29, respectively. The final ship is expected to be delivered in early November, according to Ardmore Shipping.

The first three tankers, the Ardmore Endurance, the Ardmore Explorer and the Ardmore Engineer, were added to the company’s fleet in September 2016.

All six vessels are 49,500 dwt Eco-Design MR product/chemical tankers constructed by South Korea’s STX Offshore and Shipbuilding.

In addition, Ardmore Shipping said it sold the 29,000 dwt product/chemical tanker, the Ardmore Centurion, for USD 15.7 million. The ship was delivered to its owner, Nigeria-based Prudent Energy & Service, on October 4, 2016.

The information about the tankers was revealed in the company’s financial statement in which Ardmore Shipping reported a net loss of USD 4.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2016, as compared to a net profit of USD 13.6 million in the same period last year.

Additionally, revenue for the period was USD 38 million, a decrease of USD 9.2 million from USD 47.2 million for the same quarter in 2015.

The company saw a lower Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) rate which amounted to USD 13,889 per day for the three months ended September 30, 2016, decreasing USD 6,311 per day from USD 20,200 per day for the same period ended September 30, 2015.

“In spite of this short-term market action, the underlying fundamentals of the MR tanker sector remain very positive, with secular trends driving underlying tonne-mile demand growth at an estimated rate of 4-5%. According to the IEA, oil consumption continues to grow at 1.2 million bpd, and much of this incremental demand is being met by export-oriented refinery activity, which not only increases volumes of refined products shipped by sea, but also the distance over which those refined products are carried,” Anthony Gurnee, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, said.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2016, Ardmore Shipping saw a net profit of USD 7.5 million against a net profit of USD 26.6 million for the nine-month period last year.

The company’s revenue for the nine-month period this year amounted to 121.2 million, compared to revenue of USD 116.1 million in the same period last year.

Ardmore Shipping currently operates a fleet of 26 vessels, comprising 20 Eco MR tankers ranging from 45,000 to 49,999 dwt and six Eco-Design product/chemical tankers ranging from 25,000 to 38,000 dwt.

“Ordering activity is almost non-existent and, as a consequence, the orderbook for MR tankers has declined to 5.5% of the existing fleet, its lowest level in at least 20 years, which should result in net fleet growth well below projected demand growth until such time as newbuilding activity increases significantly,” Gurnee added.