Major hurdles included dry docking for special surveys by three vessels and the ballast trip of the newly built athens 2004 en route to its maiden revenue voyage. Combined, these events represented 74 days of off-hire, or 6.7% of available employment days. By comparison, the off-hire rate was only 1.8% for the full year 1997. Only one additional vessel is expected to dry dock for special survey in 1998.
Revenue prospects are solid. Next month MIF is scheduled to take delivery of its third new building, an Aframax (107,000 dwt), expanding its fleet to 14 vessels (one million plus dwt). Ten vessels are serving customers with term charters extending beyond 1998. This month MIF will formalize a $250 million credit facility provided by a syndicate of fifteen leading banks. Based on these factors, management is optimistic that, barring unforseen developments, Mif will achieve record net income and record earnings per share for full year 1998.