EMEA News
Hafnia: Best Product Tanker Spot Market Since 2009
Hafnia Tankers Ltd. (Hafnia) has declared 2015 as having the best product tanker market spot earnings since 2009.
The comments came in its latest 2015 annual report, in which Hafnia posted overall profit of $59.6 million last year, a significant improvement on the $2.3 million in profit registered in 2014.
Reasons cited for the strong markets included high refinery margins as a result of low crude prices, and high gasoline demand in the USA resulting in increased tonne-miles for the company's vessels.
Also contributing to the positive market conditions were volatile oil prices that encouraged additional trading activity of refined products, leading to further improved freight rates and higher business volumes.
The company also cited new refinery capacity in the Middle East and India (resulting in substantial export of refined products) for the strong business.
The demand for the company's services occurred even though the product tanker segment registered a substantial increase in the size of the fleet over the course of the year, Hafnia noted.
Gross spot earnings of vessels trading in pools managed by Hafnia Management A/S during 2015 were $27,072 per LR1 vessel, $21,396 per MR vessel, and $20,638 per SR vessel.
In January Ship & Bunker reported that Anthony Gurnee, CEO at Ardmore Shipping Corporation (Ardmore) said he continued to be bullish on the outlook for the product tanker market.
