Page 31 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΟΚΤΩΒΡΙΟΣ 2024

The President & CEO of DHT Holdings shares insights on the company’s strategic choic-
es regarding fleet renewal. Svein Moxnes Harfjeld also addresses the challenges asso-
ciated with the energy transition of shipping and shares his views on what the future
holds for the tanker market.

NORMALITY IN SEABORNE

OIL TRADE WILL RETURN

Svein Moxnes Harfjeld, ❶ DHT Holdings has placed orders for workhorses and beneficiaries of these changing
President & CEO newly built vessels to be delivered in dynamics. As a result, we decided to pursue a
of DHT Holdings Inc.,
2026. What is the rationale behind pure VLCC strategy and sold our older, smaller
talks to choosing to order new vessels instead vessels.
Giannis Theodoropoulos of purchasing them from the sec- Following the Russia-Ukraine conflict, this
ond-hand market? trade flow structure was disrupted, benefiting
It was not an either-or choice. We have con- Aframaxes and Suezmaxes. However, we are
sidered several second-hand opportunities, convinced that normality will return, as leading
including both single-asset and fleet acquisi- Asian refiners will go back to utilising the most
tions, but, as of late, we have not found the right competitive and efficient form of transportation
deals for us. Our last second-hand acquisition — VLCCs. Our strategy is also heavily custom-
was a 5-year-old ship from N.S. Lemos in 2023. er-focused, and we enjoy a significant portion
It was an excellent vessel in terms of where it of repeat business.
was built and ownership history, and it had been
well looked after. In general, our vessels must ❸ All vessels managed by DHT Hold-
meet several criteria concerning the shipyard, ings have been built in South Korean
age, design, ownership history, and, of course, shipyards. Could you elaborate on
price. The newbuildings we have ordered are of your preference for South Korean
superior design and fuel efficiency compared to shipyards? Are you also considering
ships built even five years ago. The delivery times Chinese shipyards, given the limited
are also relatively soon; we expect the four ships slots available globally and the rapid
from Hyundai and Hanwha in South Korea – two improvements in Chinese shipbuilding
ships from each – to be delivered during the first quality?
half of 2026. In our pursuit of servicing some of the most
demanding customers, our focus is on owning
❷ Many companies focus on exclusively and operating a fleet of high-quality vessels. We
managing one type of vessel. DHT do own two vessels built in China, which came
Holdings takes this a step further, man- into our ownership in 2017 when we acquired
aging only VLCCs. Is your expertise on BW Group’s fleet of 11 VLCCs.
VLCCs recognised by charterers as a If we look back to the 1960s, there was scepti-
competitive advantage? cism about building ships in Japan, and some 40
In 2013, with the significant entry of US shale years ago, there was similar scepticism about
oil into the oil market, we anticipated that trade shipbuilding in South Korea. Chinese shipyards
flows would be impacted as long-haul oil trade are certainly improving, but beyond the shipyard
in the Atlantic would progressively increase. As and its abilities, one must also consider where
the main demand drivers were and still are Asian the equipment supplied to the ships is produced
countries, VLCCs naturally became the primary and the level of service network these suppliers

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