Euronav Pushes Delivery of Two VLCCs at HHI

Euronav NV announces today that it has agreed with Hyundai Heavy Industries (“HHI”) shipyard in South Korea to defer the delivery of the two VLCC ex-yard resale vessels it recently purchased to the first quarter of 2017.

Thanks to the excellent relationship that the Company enjoys with HHI, these vessels, previously expected to be delivered between October and November 2016, will now be delivered in January 2017. Pursuant to these deferred deliveries, the amount of approximately USD 97 million that was previously expected to be paid to the shipyard during the fourth quarter of 2016 is now expected to be paid in the first quarter of 2017.

Hugo De Stoop, CFO, said: “Euronav is pleased to have come to this agreement with HHI. It is, in fact, hard to understand why anyone would think of taking delivery of a ship in the last two to three months of the year given the importance that the vintage year has on the value of any ship. It makes sense for any ship owner to do this, and would assist in smoothing out the world order book going forward. Euronav is pleased to capture two vessels with a 2017 vintage and further rejuvenate our wider VLCC fleet with two high specification vessels and, as they are resales, it is done without increasing the size of the world fleet.”