Singapore-based product tanker owner First Ship Lease Trust has completed the disposal of one of its product tankers.
Specifically, the board of directors of FSL Trust Management Pte. Ltd., as trustee-manager of First Ship Lease Trust has announced that the disposal of the vessel Cumbrian Fisher has been completed with the successful delivery of the vessel to the new owners, an unaffiliated third party, on December 16.
The vessel Cumbrian Fisher is a 12,921-dwt product tanker built at Samho in South Korea in 2004 and has been employed under bareboat charter.
The unnamed buyer paid $7.15m for the tanker, a figure which was “arrived at after arm’s lengths negotiations.”
“The gross consideration paid by the buyer for the vessel upon delivery was US$7.15m, which was arrived at after arm’s lengths negotiations between FSL-1, Inc., the subsidiary of the Trust that owned the vessel, and the buyer on a “willing buyer willing seller” basis,” the company said in a stock exchange announcement on Tuesday.
First Ship Lease Trust also reported that the disposal would be more beneficial to the Trust than keeping the vessel.
Having taken into consideration the vessel is twenty years old and the prevailing and expected charter market environment and earnings prospects for a vessel of this age, the capital expenditure for the upcoming dry-docking for the fourth special survey of the vessel due in December 2024 and (new) environmental regulations, the vessel’s expected economic life and residual value, the board of the company concluded “that the disposal would be value accretive and more beneficial to the Trust and its unitholders than keeping the vessel in the portfolio of the Trust.”
Furthermore, the Trust has realised a net gain of around $2.29m from selling its 12,921-dwt product tanker Cumbrian Fisher.
“After taking into consideration the cost of the disposal (including brokerage commissions and legal fees), the Trust realised a net gain of approximately US$2.29 million (unaudited) and net sales proceeds of approximately US$6.63 million (unaudited), which are intended to be used for general corporate purposes of the Trust,” the company’s statement reads.
The vessel portfolio of First Ship Lease Trust comprises of eight product tankers – included the Cumbrian Fisher – of different sizes, built between 2004 and 2008, which are chartered to an international shipping company on fixed-rate period charters.
With the sale of the vessel completed, the company’s fleet portfolio consists of seven tankers.
