Team Tankers is an international shipping company incorporated in Hamilton, Bermuda. The Company has a fleet of 40 vessels: 31 owned vessels and 9 leased vessels as of the date of this report. The Company is committed to the safe and efficient transport of liquid bulk cargoes for all its customers and partners.
Overall, 2019 was another difficult year in the chemical and clean petroleum product shipping markets. Rates began the year encouragingly but drifted lower and bottomed out late summer before the clean products market experienced a strong rally towards the end of the fourth quarter. The Company believes the underlying market outlook is positive driven by fewer new ships delivering from shipyards, longer haul trades following IMO 2020 regulationsandanincreaseintheglobaldemandforbulkliquidtransportation. However,whiletheeffectofCOVID- 19 on seaborne trade is not yet clear, it will likely negatively impact trading in 2020 due to its effect on the global economy.
Team Tankers views its vessels as fitting into three broad categories based on size, tank coating and primary trade patterns: regional stainless steel, regional coated and deep sea. The Company refers to these three categories as vessel classes.
- The deep sea coated fleet consists of 19 vessels with an average age of approximately 11 years. The Company sold five older MRs, built 2002 to 2004, in 2019 in order to take advantage of an uptick in the S&P market and eliminate technical and exit risk related to ageing vessels. Four have been delivered to the new owners, while one is expected to be delivered to the new owner in April. In March 2020, the Company announced that it had entered into an agreement with Maersk Tankers to place its coated vessels in Maersk Tankers pools, thereby benefitting from the commercial scale of the Maersk Tankers system. The Company will consider consolidation and sales opportunities that are beneficial to its stakeholders.
- The regional coated fleet consists of 9 vessels with an average age of approximately 13 years. The Company has sold two vessels and redelivered two chartered ships since the beginning of 2020, with additional sales being contemplated. As announced in March 2020, the fleet will be traded by Maersk Tankers going forward. The Company is focused on reducing the capital employed in the fleet.
- The regional stainless steel fleet consist of 12 vessels with an average age of approximately 14 years. The Company operates its stainless steel vessels in southern Europe and West Africa trades which continue to exhibit modest growth. Management believes the industry remains fragmented and would benefit from consolidation. Thus, management will continue to assess consolidation and sales opportunities as they arise. At year end, the Company recognized an $4.9 million impairment loss for vessels in the regional stainless trade, see note 12 for further information.
