Euronav makes two newbuild VLCCs a year younger

Euronav CFO Hugo De Stoop: It's hard to understand why anyone would take delivery of a ship in the last two to three months of the year given the importance that the vintage year has on the value of any ship

OCTOBER 14, 2016 — Euronav NV (NYSE: EURN & Euronext: EURN) reports that it reached an agreement with shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries South Korea to defer the delivery of two VLCC ex-yard resale vessels it recently purchased to the first quarter of 2017.

The vessels were previously expected to be delivered between October and November 2016, but Euronav says that, “thanks to the excellent relationship that the company enjoys with HHI, these vessels, will now be delivered in January 2017 and that the amount of approximately $97 million that was previously expected to be paid to the shipyard during the fourth quarter of 2016 is now expected to be paid in the first quarter of 2017.

CFO Hugo De Stoop said: “Euronav is pleased to have come to this agreement with HHI. It is, in fact, hard to understand why anyone would think of taking delivery of a ship in the last two to three months of the year given the importance that the vintage year has on the value of any ship. It makes sense for any shipowner to do this, and would assist in smoothing out the world order book going forward. Euronav is pleased to capture two vessels with a 2017 vintage and further rejuvenate our wider VLCC fleet with two high specification vessels and, as they are resales, it is done without increasing the size of the world fleet.”

The announcement comes within days of Euronav ordering two high-spec Suezmax vessels from HHI for delivery in early 2018 after signing two long-term time charter contracts of seven years each with Valero Energy Inc. for Suezmax vessels with specialized Ice Class 1C capability.