Team outsources management

OVER TO YOU

FLEET • TEAM TANKERS IS HANDING OVER MANAGEMENT OF MUCH OF ITS FLEET IN A BID TO IMPROVE FLEXIBILITY AND VESSEL UTILISATION

TEAM TANKERS INTERNATIONAL has struck two deals to outsource management of much of its chemical tanker fleet, both of which were announced on the same day. “The two partnerships should improve trading performance, reduce costs and increase our flexibility for additional divestment and investment activity,” explains Hans Feringa, president/CEO of Team Tankers.

In the first deal, Team Tankers has established a joint venture with Maersk Tankers, which has taken over commercial management of 27 vessels and established two new pools. “The cooperation is a further step towards building scale for our tanker fleet,” says Feringa. “We believe the timing of the cooperation is good as the medium and longer-term outlook for the product and chemical tanker market is positive, and the order book is at a historically low level.”

Of the 27 vessels transferred to Maersk’s management, nine are 13,000-dwt tankers, four are ‘Flexis’ in the 25,000-dwt range, and 14 are MR tankers of 46,000 to 49,000 dwt. The move takes Maersk into two new segments, necessitating the establishment of two new pools. It will also allow greater flexibility in deployment.

“The cooperation between Team Tankers International and Maersk Tankers is powerful, and we look forward to welcoming our new colleagues,” says Claus Gronborg, chief investment officer at Maersk Tankers. “With this, we are taking yet another step to deliver our strategy of building scale through partnerships forged by the common goal of using digitisation to reduce CO² emissions and increase partner returns. The growth in capacity means we can offer our customers additional flexibility in transporting their cargoes and improve our returns to existing and new pool partners.”

In the second deal, Team Tankers has set up a joint venture with V Ships, Dania Ship Management, in which Team will hold 30 per cent, and has added 10 MR tankers and two 25,000-dwt coated tankers to the 21 already under the technical management of V Ships.

“The joint venture will benefit both parties by bringing together the valuable technical and crewing organisation from Team together with V Group’s global reach and expertise,” Team Tankers says. “Team will have access to the groundbreaking IT system ShipSure developed by V Group that will enhance safety and efficiency, and the JV will also provide procurement advantages to Team from the scale of V Group.”

HOW IT FIGURES In financial news, Team Tankers has reported first quarter EBITDA of $16.5m, up from $14.0m a year ago, with net income of $1.4m, compared to a loss of $7.9m in first quarter 2019. The freight market continued to improve during the quarter, with average timecharter equivalent earnings rising from $12,348/day in fourth quarter 2019 to $13,812/day, although following some vessel disposals through sale and redelivery, total trading days and cargo volumes both fell by some 10 per cent.

Since the end of the quarter, Team Tankers has continued to trim its fleet, completing the sale of Team Toccata (45,000 dwt, 2004) and redelivering the chartered Tintomara (45,000 dwt, 2003) at the end of its lease.

Team notes that, during the first quarter, the Covid-19 outbreak had some impact on demand for its coated tankers working in Asia and warns that, while developments are still unclear, it expects further impact on its performance across the fleet over time. On the other hand, the collapse in global oil prices has led to a strong underlying demand for tankers. teamtankers.com