Gulf Navigation in the black for the first time since 2010

The black ink comes after Gulf Navigation exited the large crude tanker sector last year by selling its two VLCCS for $98m, both of which had been arrested by creditors in 2013. The sale of the Gulf Eyadah and Gulf Sheba saved 40% in operational expenses and 68% in financing expenses in the first quarter 2014, bring operational profit to AED4m from a AED3.8m loss in the same period 2013.

Last August the company was in breach of its loan term agreements and failed to make a payment of $1.86m on its debt. With liabilities mounting and the future of the company at the mercy of its creditors, the company's interim results statement warned, "there exists a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt on the ability of the group to continue as going concern."

The company's full year loss totalled AED697m in 2013, 89% of which was one-off expenses related to the exit of the VLCC sector, goodwill write-offs and provisions for claims against Gulf Navigation.

Those claims include the case of the Gulf Scandic, which was redelivered to Nordic American Tankers (NAT) in poor condition after a six year bareboat charter to 2010. NAT was awarded $10.2m over the dispute at arbitration earlier this year, an outcome that Gulf Navigation intends to appeal against.