…As Hyundai Merchant Marine CEO set to Step Down Next Month***
Greek shipping firm Navios Maritime Holdings has sold its 2002-built Ultra Handymax vessel Navios Meridian.
The 50,316 dwt Navios Meridian was sold to an unnamed buyer in February this year for a total net sale price of USD 6.8 million.
The vessel sale was announced by the New York-listed company as part of its 2018 earnings report.
As disclosed in the report, the company sank deeper into red, booking a net loss of USD 265.5 million for the full year. The company’s net loss increased in comparison to 2017 when it delivered a net loss of USD 165.9 million.
Full year 2018 revenue was USD 517.7 million with an adjusted EBITDA of USD 179.6 million.
For the fourth quarter 2018, Navios reported a net loss of USD 201 million, compared to a net loss of USD 51.6 million in 4Q 2017.
Revenue for the period amounted to USD 127.4 million with an adjusted EBITDA of USD 45.5 million.
During 4Q 2018, the company took USD 184.6 million impairment on the book value of a number of drybulk vessels and USD 55.5 million impairment on its investment in Navios Maritime Partners.
“During 2018, improved charter markets positively impacted our business results. The Time Charter Equivalent of our fleet was about 30% higher in 2018 compared to 2017,” Angeliki Frangou, chairman and CEO, commented.
TCE increased by 29.1% to USD 12,534 per day in the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to USD 9,705 per day in the same period in 2017.
Navios Holdings also noted that, as of February 15, 2019, the company had chartered-out 70.9% of available days of 2019, out of which 26.7% are chartered-out on fixed rate and 44.2% on index. According to the company, the 2019 average contracted daily charter-in rate for the long-term charter-in vessels is USD 13,628.
In the meantime, Hyundai Merchant Marine’s (HMM) president and CEO, Chang Keun Yoo, has decided to resign from his position next month, the South Korean shipping company confirmed to World Maritime News.
As informed, Yoo will formally announce his resignation at the upcoming shareholders meeting scheduled for the end of March 2019.
C.K. Yoo started his term two and a half years ago to oversee the company’s restructuring efforts and lead HMM into the new era of growth.
The decision comes despite the term extension given to Yoo in March 2018.
“It is not easy for me to decide to leave HMM in the middle of this critical moment of “war on loss” with the 2020 challenges looming on the horizon but I comfort myself with the thought that HMM has become much healthier than before,” Yoo said in his farewell message to HMM employees.
He added that the key cornerstones have been laid for the company’s sustainable and profitable growth after 2020.
Earlier this year, HMM CEO announced that 2020 will be a year of quantum leap for the company. The leap would be led by the newly ordered 23,000 TEU containerships but also by investments in IT, global network, education and improvement of customer service.
Commenting on the projects launched during his tenure, he further said: “Ultra large containerships with scrubbers are under construction and the tasks of securing the hub terminals supporting the growth of volume have been completed with the agreement on Busan terminal reached of late. Our I/T capability will be enhanced in line with our expansion plan.”
“The new era requires new leadership,” Yoo pointed out, expressing his hopes that the company and its employees would write “a new history of HMM” under the new leadership.
World Maritime News
