Profits Down at Qatar's Nakilat
Qatari state shipowner Nakilat said July 24 that it made a net 1H 2017 profit of rials 409mn ($111mn), down 18% from rials 501mn ($136mn) in 1H2016.
It blamed the effect of changing the estimated scrap value of vessels into line with International Accounting Standards and reduced operations of a few joint ventures. During the period, it said that four more LNG carriers were brought under its in-house ship management team, taking the total of vessels operated by Nakilat to 16. It also noted the agreement signed last week with Hoegh LNG on possible co-operation in the floating LNG terminals sector.
Nakilat was among several Qatari state-owned entities that had their credit rating outlooks downgraded recently by Moody's.
It says its fleet of 67 wholly- and jointly-owned LNG tankers account for 15% of the world's LNG transportation capacity. But these days, charterers are keen for vessels up to 180,000 m3 in size, rather than larger Q-Flex and Q-Max sized ones in which Nakilat invested so heavily. It also has 4 LPG vessels.
Mark Smedley