Frontline Ltd., the oil tanker operator led by Norway-born billionaire John Fredriksen, said it’s looking to sell three more 1990s-built ships as the company modernizes its fleet while earnings plunge.
The Front Alfa, Front Beta and Front Delta, all built in 1992 or 1993 and capable of hauling 1 million barrels of crude, are on the market, Jens Martin Jensen, Singapore-based chief executive officer of the company’s management unit, said by phone today.
Hamilton, Bermuda-based Frontline said Oct. 31 that it agreed to sell the Front Hunter, another suezmax-class vessel that was built in 1996, to VTN Shipping Group, at a loss of $29.6 million. The company said on Oct. 20 it would lose $36.3 million on the sale of the Front Fighter and the Front Striver, built in 1994 and 1992 respectively.
“If you get a good price, everything is for sale,” Inger Marie Klemp, Frontline’s chief financial officer, said by phone today from Oslo. She said Oct. 31 that the company had no more ships for sale, while declining to comment on the possibility of future sales.
Sale prices for the Front Hunter, Front Fighter and Front Striver weren’t disclosed. The ships fetched prices just above scrap values, Erik Nikolai Stavseth, an analyst at Oslo-based Arctic Securities ASA, estimated. Klemp declined to comment.
“They’re doing some housecleaning,” Stavseth, who recommends selling Frontline shares, said by phone today. “Let’s face it, they need to be cutting costs wherever they can.”
Earnings for the vessels have fallen 56 percent this year, according to the Baltic Exchange, the London-based publisher of shipping costs. Returns have declined as the global fleet of crude tankers expands faster than seaborne trade in oil.
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