Bermuda-based Ardmore Shipping Corporation, which owns and operates product and chemical tankers, has reported a net loss of $12.8 million for the third quarter.

This compares with a net loss of $6.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020.

The company reported ebitda of $1.3 million for the third quarter compared with $7.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020.

Ardmore reported a net loss of $29.5 million for the nine months ended September 30.

This compares with net income of $13.5 million for the same period a year ago.

Ardmore reported ebitda of $11.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, compared with $56.1 million for the same period last year.

MR tankers earned an average time charter equivalent rate of $10,904 a day for the three months ended September 30 and $11,237 a day for the nine months ended September 30.

Chemical tankers earned an average TCE rate of $8,400 a day (comprising average rates of $10,387 a day on chemical cargos and $6,652 a day on clean petroleum product cargos) for the third quarter and $10,882 a day for the nine months ended September 30.

In July this year, Ardmore extended an agreement to time-charter a 2010 Japanese-built MR product tanker for one year at a net rate of $11,500 a day, plus a one-year extension option.

Anthony Gurnee, the company's chief executive officer, said: "While our earnings through the first nine months of 2021 reflect the very tough prevailing market conditions during the period, our strong balance sheet and low-cost structure have enabled us to hold our own and we believe that we have now reached a turning point, with the product and chemical tanker markets showing signs of real recovery.

“Having experienced an unprecedentedly sharp drop in tanker demand earlier in the pandemic, a full oil demand recovery is now well under way, and an extensive global oil inventory destocking seems to be reaching its logical end point. As a consequence, we believe that we are now very close to an inflection point for product and chemical tanker demand, beyond which rates should rebound strongly.”