Its warning came as it
wheeled out a loss to end a year in which it was hurt by restructuring at Torm
and financial strife at BLT.
Philip
Clausius, CEO of the Singapore-quoted leaser, said: “2012 has been very challenging, but the
Trust’s disciplined approach and wide network have helped to deploy our spot
vessels to longer term arrangements within a relatively short time frame. This
has enhanced our revenue visibility and improved our operational profile.
“However,
the prolonged crisis has taken a toll on many shipping companies. We are
cognizant of the pressures that some of our lessees are under as can be seen
from the restructuring discussions we are currently having.”
While
FSL does not identify the two owners it is in talks with, it does admit the
preliminary discussions will likely translate to lower revenue from the first
quarter of 2013.
“We
remain vigilant and committed to steer FSL Trust through this unprecedented
shipping down cycle, which we believe is near, if not at the bottom,” Clausius
added.
FSL
booked a loss of $8.4m in 2012, as revenue came down by 4.2%.
With
three tankers taken back from BLT and charter rates cut on two Torm ships, the
trust saw its top line sliced by almost a fifth in the final quarter.
This
led to a deficit of $1.55m in the final three months of 2012 as cash generation
was halved to $12.29m.
FSL
has 25 tankers, containerships and bulkers, with most
on bareboat deals with owners ranging from Evergreen and Yang Ming to James
Fisher, Siba and Geden Lines.
