DHT finishes fixes to newbuild VLCC rudders

JANUARY 9, 2017 — Tanker operator DHT Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DHT) reports that during a routine inspection of the first of a series of six 299,000 dwt newbuildings, the DHT Jaguar delivered in 2015, a fracture surrounding the inspection window of the rudder was identified.

DHT notes that it is its policy to inspect all newbuildings, including underwater areas, during their warranty periods. and that, following a root cause analysis conducted by the shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), it implemented a permanent repair plan for a rudder design improvement on the DHT Jaguar and its sister ships.

DHT says it has now has completed the work and, in relation to it, incurred 105 off-hire days during the fourth quarter of 2016, equaling to about 5% of its trading days during the same period. The repair cost has been covered by HHI under its warranty obligation.

DHT agreed with HHI to defer the delivery of its final newbuilding in the program originally scheduled for delivery during the fourth quarter of 2016.

The vessel, which will be named DHT Tiger, will be delivered during January 2017 at no additional cost to DHT, positively impacting her value.