A panel of tanker experts were divided on what ship type to invest in at today’s Marine Money Singapore Ship Finance Forum. Concluding the tanker session, the panel was asked what they would invest in if they were given $100m.
Hugo De Stoop, CFO at Euronav said VLCCs, claiming there were just eight or nine ships worldwide which can build this ship type.
Cyril Ducau, deputy CFO at Quantum Pacific Shipping, was more circumspect, telling delegates: “I don’t see a segment that cries out for investment.”
Frans van de Bospoort, who heads the tanker division at DVB Bank, said he’d plump for small handy product tankers, citing that sector’s smaller orderbook. This choice was supported by Huw Crooks, a partner and CFO at Ridgebury Tankers. Crooks said he was happy that other panellists were generally cautious on crude tankers. He also picked slightly older, smaller containerships as a decent investment.
Erik Statsveth, an analyst at Arctic Securities gave short and longer term predictions. In the next three months he said he’d invest every penny he had in Euronav shares, expecting the Belgian tanker giant to continue to post robust earnings this year. Longer term he felt LNG made the best investment.
The two-day ship finance event finishes tomorrow.
