Paddy Rodgers, Euronav CEO, said: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of two new high specification VLCC ex-yard resale vessels for $84.5 mill each. The tanker market is at an important stage in its evolution with asset prices at historically low levels primarily as a result of limited access to financing becoming increasingly selective and favouring industrial players like Euronav.
“This phase provides an opportunity for Euronav to add shipping days at low cost in a disciplined manner without issuance of new shares or excessive additional leverage. This is a good opportunity to be acquisitive and act in the best interests of the business and the long term investors.
“As highlighted in our press release on 28th July, 2016, the third quarter is proving to be challenging. The seasonality impacting freight rates has been exacerbated by the persistence of additional short term disruptive factors, such as oil production outages in West Africa and new tonnage added to the global fleet.
“Whilst the underlying fundamentals for the medium and longer term crude tanker markets remain constructive, it is anticipated that the current market conditions will impact the fourth quarter,” he warned.