Bermudian-based crude oil tanker company DHT Holdings Inc has reported full-year net income of $266.3 million, which is the highest yearly result in its history.

The company, which was founded in 2005, said the Covid-19 pandemic is still impacting its business. During 2020 it faced operational challenges, such as trying to change crews at regular intervals.

“Crews have stayed on-board longer than planned, awaiting opportunities to go ashore and for replacements to come on-board. Our crews are demonstrating cooperation and understanding to support continuation of our services,” it said in its earnings report.

The problem has abated relative to the second and third quarters of 2020, but some hurdles remain, DHT said.

There has been a reduced global consumption of refined oil products due to the pandemic, resulting in a build-up of onshore inventories. DHT said oil producers had reduced supplies to rebalance the oil markets and this had impacted the demand for oil transportation.

DHT has a fleet of 27 VLCCs [very large crude carriers], and last month entered an agreement to acquire two more VLCCs to be delivered during the first half of this year.

The company’s shipping revenue in 2020 totalled $691 million, up from 535.1 million the year before. It reduced its net debt from $783.6 million to $381.3 million during 2020.

In the fourth quarter, DHT made a profit of $7.6 million, or four cents per share, down from $75.9 million year-on-year.

Looking ahead, DHT said it would take advantage of the weak freight market to bring forward drydockings and planned installations of scrubbers – also known as exhaust gas cleaning systems – and ballast waste treatment systems.