FSL Trust Secures Charter Extensions for Tanker Trio

FSL Trust Singapores FSL Trust Management Pte, the trustee-manager of First Ship Lease Trust, has inked a new agreement for the extension of bareboat charters for three vessels. The ships that fixed charters are product tankers Speciality, Superiority and Seniority, built in 2006 and 2007, each featuring approximately 4,426 DWT. The three vessels were chartered out to James Fisher upon their delivery. As disclosed in the companys annual report, the three tankers form part of nine ships that are scheduled to be redelivered in FY2017. Roger Woods, Acting Chief Executive Officer of FSL Trust said that the extension of the said charters will enable the trust to continue to generate a stable income for the next few years. We continue to take the appropriate steps to manage the performance of the trust, with a particular focus on the commercial deployment of the fleet,” he added. The announcements comes a week after the trust revealed employment of its vessel Aframax crude oil tanker FSL Hong Kong in the Teekay Group Revenue Sharing Agreement post dry docking. The trust reported full year 2016 revenues of USD 98.1m, 7.9% lower than the previous year, on the back of a smaller fleet following the disposal of two Evergreen containerships in February 2016. Downward pressure on rates in some tanker markets and the feeder container sector also contributed to the decrease in revenues. In view of deteriorating vessel values amid volatile market conditions, the trust recognised a non-cash impairment charge of USD 44.1 million on eight vessels in 2016, which contributed to a full year net loss of USD 31 million. FSL Trusts vessel portfolio comprises 22 vessels, out of which 12 are product tankers, 5 containerships, 3 chemical tankers and 2 crude oil tankers.