The company announced net profit to 30 June of $16m, from $7.7m in the same period of 2013.

Charter revenue fell to $31.5m compared to $35m the year before, due to a small amount of unscheduled off-hire and two vessels undergoing routine dry-docking.

Two vessels also started charters to Maersk Line at reduced rates in the first quarter

But it booked a one-off gain of $11.4m