Net profit for the quarter ended 31 March 2014 came up to $9.85m, down 8% compared to a gain of $10.74m in the same period of last year.
Charter revenue also dropped 4% year-on-year to $33.92m largely due to the redelivery of two vessels during the period. In addition, the fleet incurred a total of 31.1 days of unscheduled off-hire.
Rickmers Maritime maintained a distribution per unit of 0.60 US cents for the first quarter, unchanged from the corresponding period of 2013. The shipping trust will distribute $5.1m to unitholders on 4 June.
“Whilst the charter market remains under pressure as a result of the persistent oversupply of containerships in the market, Rickmers Maritime’s performance has been consistent due to its existing charter agreements with reputable counterparties,” said Thomas Preben Hansen, ceo of Rickmers Trust Management, the trustee-manager of Rickmers Maritime.
Hansen added that the company has locked in 98% of its tonnage exposure for 2014, bringing its secured revenue between 31 March 2014 and the expiry of its last charter party contract in 2019 to a total of $311.3m.
“With a number of our existing charter agreements expiring during 4Q2014 and 2015, the uncertainty surrounding the timing of a charter market recovery poses a risk to the earnings and cash flows of the Trust. To this end, we will continue our chartering activities to ensure the best possible future employment for our fleet of quality vessels,” he said.
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