According to Euronav’s CEO Hugo De Stoop, the Belgian company specializing in the ocean transportation of oil is on track for a gradual but progressive return to normality,
On the occasion of the presentation of the company’s financial results, the manager underlined how there are encouraging signs of recovery in the tanker market on the horizon. Despite the spread of the Omicron variant and the consequent emergence of new criticalities resulting from the adoption of appropriate virus contingency measures, De Stoop said he was confident that this would be the year of recovery with crude oil supplies and consumption back to 2019 levels.
Euronav’s CEO said that Euronav’s balance sheet was strong and they had taken advantage of the downturn in the cycle to upgrade their fleet. He pointed out that in January, they had welcomed two new modern eco-ships, the Cedar and the Cypress, adding that six more vessels were currently being built with delivery times expected to be between 2023 and 2024. He concluded by stating that Euronav is looking forward to further progress in 2022.
The company closed the year with a loss of $339 million compared to profits of $473 million in 2020. On a quarterly basis, the loss reported in Q4 was $72.5 million, compared to a loss of $58 million in the same period in 2020.
Translation by Giles Foster
