Crude oil tanker company DHT Holdings has committed $25 million to retrofit an additional eight vessels with scrubbers.
The investment is being pursued as DHT eyes premiums from higher fuel price spreads.
“The combination of lower cost and the current higher fuel spreads makes this a compelling investment. The investment will be funded with liquidity at hand hence no new debt will be issued,” the company said.
DHT Holdings expects to commence the retrofit program in Q4 2022 and complete it during Q1 2023.
Once completed, the project would bring the company’s tally of scrubber-fitted ships to a total of 23 vessels.
All the vessels are of eco-design and built between 2015 and 2018. They include DHT Colt, DHT Jaguar, DHT Leopard, DHT Lion, DHT Panther, DHT Puma, DHT Stallion, and DHT Tiger.
The tanker owner reported $10 million of net profit in the second quarter of 2022, compared to a net profit of $0.8 million for the same period in 2021. The increase was mainly due to higher tanker rates.
For the first half of the year, the company had a net loss of $7.3 million against a net profit of $12.4 million in H1 2021.
Commenting on the ongoing market developments, DHT Holdings added it was still experiencing crew change difficulties due to COVID-19-related restrictions.
“The situation has improved but in addition to certain countries having restrictions affecting crew changes with transit and quarantine procedures, some customers have implemented their own restrictions adding complexities to the situation. Hence, we are still experiencing limits with respect to the number of geographical options to execute crew changes,” the company said.
“All our seafarers are fully vaccinated at the time of joining a vessel, as is the majority of our onboard sailing crew.”
DHT Holdings is bullish on the market outlook as the dynamics of the oil market could bring a rewarding period of strengthening freight rates.
“The world fleet is rapidly aging at a time when ordering of new ships is very limited. It is not unthinkable for the fleet to shrink at a time when demand for transportation is expected to recover, likely creating a rewarding environment for large tankers,” the market commentary reads.
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