DHT confirms disposal of Chinese-built tonnage

DHT Holdings, a New York-listed tanker giant, has confirmed the sale of two Chinese-built VLCCs.

DHT said in a statement that it sold the 2011-built DHT Lotus and the DHT Peony for a combined price of $103m. Splash has previously cited broking sources that claimed that the company sold the 320,000 dwt sister vessels built at Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry in China.

After repayment of existing debt on the vessels, amounting to $15.9m in aggregate, the transaction is expected to generate net cash proceeds of approximately $85m. The vessels are expected to be delivered to the new owner in April and July, respectively.

According to DHT, the company expects to record gains of $17.5m and $15.5m in the second and third quarters, respectively.

The vessels were acquired in 2017 as part of the acquisition of BW Group’s VLCC fleet for an aggregate price of $115.8m.

“These two vessels have served us well over the past eight years. We have taken this opportunity to fine-tune our fleet profile, aligning our service offering with customer needs and market trends,” said Svein Moxnes Harfjeld, president and CEO of DHT.

With the sale of the duo, DHT became the first VLCC owner known to have sold off all Chinese-built ships following US signals that Chinese-built tonnage could face pricey penalties when calling at American ports. The deal leaves the outfit with 21 Korean-built supertankers in the water and four VLCCs on order.