Fleet and profit growth at Navigator

Fleet growth, improved rates and improved utilisation came together to push operating revenues up by 25.5% for the handysize gas carrier operator to $80.6m for the quarter, with operating expenses rising 9.7% to $49.6m.

The weighted average number of vessels in the company's fleet rose from 21.4 in Q3 2013 to 25 in the last quarter. Despite the larger fleet, utilisation was up from 90.9% to 98.4% and average daily time charter equivalent rates jumped from $28,556 per day to $30,407 per day.

At the end of the quarter, Navigator had 12 ships on order for delivery between 2014 and 2016, all at Chinese yard Jiangnan, worth a total of $688m. One of those vessel has since been delivered, and two further vessels have been ordered in the fourth quarter from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Korea for $51m each.