The announcement came on the back of a profitable first quarter for Scorpio, with a profit of $6.61m.
"What's encouraging is that the company is profitable with so much of its equity tied up in shipyards. When these new ships come along they will be younger, fitter, with lower break even points." said Scorpio coo Cameron Mackey, "The earning potential of our company is yet to show its true colours."
Scorpio has 38 vessels on order with deliveries from this summer and multiple options for extra vessels. Far from being just numbers on paper, the benefits of eco-ships can already be seen, the company asserted.
"Five of the company's owned eco-ships, built in 2012, out-earned eleven other vessels in the Scorpio MR pool by more than $3,900 per day." Mackey said, adding that all of the fuel consumption data including consumption, weather conditions and fuel quality were verified by multiple third parties and subject to independent surveys..
The company is also expecting the bunker market to change as heavy fuel oil becomes more scarce. Citing continuing reductions in sulphur emission limits and labelling HFO as a relatively unattractive product for oil refiners due to its low margins, Scorpio sees its eco-ships benefitting in a future where HFO is more expensive.
Scorpio's comments come just a month after Precious Shipping boss Khalid Hashim slammed eco-ships at Sea Asia 2013 ceo roundtable, labelling them nothing more than a marketing ploy by desperate shipyards.
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