Tanker carrier Hafnia sells eight stainless-steel vessels not belonging to the company’s core business. The buyer is Ace Tankers Management, and the divestment was expected following months of acquisitions by Hafnia.
Product tanker operator Hafnia is divesting eight tankers to Ace Tankers Management for USD 252.4m, according to a statement.
The transaction brings in USD 50m in cash for Hafnia, which in recent months has been markedly expanding its fleet through acquisitions.
The ships are stainless-steel vessels built in 2016 and 2017, and Hafnia’s management says they aren’t part of the carrier’s core business.
”Divesting the stainless-steel vessels, which is a non-core segment, is according to our strategy, and focus remains on the core Product and Chemical IMO2 tanker segments. The price achieved reflects a strong interest in the stainless-steel segment,” says Chief Executive Mikael Skov.
The trade is conditional upon the accept of lenders, and Hafnia expects the vessels to be handed over before the end of September this year, except two ships, which will be transferred in September 2023.
Expected divestment
The sale comes as no surprise. Last week, Skov told WPO that Hafnia was examining its options to sell parts of the fleet that lay outside the carrier’s core activities.
”It’s correct that the ships we consider non-core vessels, we are looking at selling those if the prices are right. Otherwise not. I won’t go into more detail, but it relates to the ships’ ages and segments where we perhaps don’t have a large strategic position,” Skov said.
”It’s nothing major. It’s something everyone does. We’re adapting the fleet continuously.”
Hafnia purchase from Scorpio Tankers
In January, Scorpio Tankers and Hafnia confirmed that the latter had acquired 12 LR1 tankers from its competitor in a transaction of USD 413.8m.
Hafnia has financed this acquisition through a sale-and-leaseback agreement that the carrier secured with leasing firm ICBC Financial Leasing. Moreover, Hafnia has refinanced debt at the end of 2021 and secured additional liquidity of USD 135m.
Last year, Hafnia saw revenue of USD 811m and a deficit of USD 55.5m after tax following a year that was tough on most product tanker operators.
