Dubai-based shipping company Gulf Navigation Holding (GulfNav) ended the first quarter of this year with a net loss.
The company suffered a net loss of AED 11 million (around USD 3 million) in Q1 2019, compared to profits of AED 5 million during the same period last year.
During Q1 2019, GulfNav achieved operating revenue of AED 45 million, compared to AED 37.7 million seen in Q1 2018. This represents a year-over-year (YoY) increase of 19%.
As explained, the net result was negatively impacted by off-hire days for a vessel and additional expenses attributed to a 10-year special survey.
Specifically, the company’s petrochemical tanker Gulf Deffi entered the dry dock for the mandatory special survey work, resulting in 50 days of off-hire for this vessel during Q1.
GulfNav also incurred increased depreciation and finance costs on account of the acquisition of livestock carriers in Q4 2018, which affected the net profit.
“The board of Gulf Navigation is reviewing all strategic growth options to return the company to profitability. Our immediate focus is to complete the necessary vessel dry-docks and achieve debt refinancing to align Gulf Navigation’s capital structure to its operations,” Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri, Chairman of GulfNav board, commented.
“We expect the product tanker charter market to become attractive ahead of the IMO 2020 implementation. We are repositioning our balance of spot and long term charter contracts to optimize the operating revenues,” he added.
GulfNav has a fleet of chemical tankers, livestock transport vessels, operation support vessels, marine services, and ship repair operations.
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