KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Richard Diamond: Thank you very much.

Gary Chapman: Thanks, Richard. I appreciate it.

Operator: The next question today comes from the line of Poe Fratt from Alliance Global Partners. Please go ahead. Your line is now open.

Poe Fratt: Good morning, Gary — or good afternoon to you. I had a couple of questions more on the micro level. Do you have the mix of operating days broken out by charter versus what days worked in the spot for voyage market? And then what — how many days were idle including the lots of hire days?

Gary Chapman: Yes. Of course, we’ve got all of that data. I think we obviously try to strike a balance in what we publish in terms of giving people enough to understand the business and to make good decisions, but not opening ourselves up too much in terms of our competitors and our customers. But certainly, we can take a look at that information if that going forward is something that is of interest to people as to whether or not we can publish some of that data in future quarters.

Poe Fratt: Yes. I guess, it’s less interesting from a standpoint of moving forward you are going to have all the ones that worked in the voyage or spot market in the fourth and first quarter to-date will be moving on to charters with Knutsen NYK. So, I was just trying to get a flavor for what happened in the fourth and the first. And to that end, can you highlight the decision to move those back to time charters with Knutsen NYK, and why you didn’t stick with the tanker market because of as the previous questioner said, the tanker market looks pretty good, but nonetheless, you are moving that capacity back into the shuttle market?

Gary Chapman: Yes. So, I think there is a few little points in there. But I think the Conflicts Committee had a look at it and what we’ve done is on an arm’s length basis. And I think the overall point is that it provides us with certainty, which I think is important for us at this point in time. Of course, we may look back with hindsight and realize that we could have perhaps got higher rates. We may look back and think we could — we’ve done well. But I think what we are trying to do is understand that certainty is valuable to KNOT right now in terms of coverage and cash flow. And also, as we suggested a little bit in the past as well, headline tanker rates don’t necessarily easily translate into cash in the bank. And also our vessels are heavier and will require a discount on that rate, when we do put them into the conventional market.

So, I think when you look at the objectives of what we are trying to do at this moment, I think the Board and the Conflicts Committee felt that this was the right balance to strike where these are relatively short-term arrangements. And in particular, the Hilda Knutsen is essentially on a rolling contract. So, we have one vessel that we can take away, or take back from KNOT, and if the market was to suddenly spike for a period of time, we would have some exposure there if we wanted to take that. So, I think overall, the Board just felt that the balance between certainty and what is achievable net at the end of the day that this was a the right balance for us to strike with the one vessel where we could move it around a little bit if the market moved very, very positively.

Poe Fratt: Okay. And when you look at the three that are under the time charter with Knutsen NYK, are all of those rates that same across the three shuttle tankers? And then, was there any change from the month to month, previous arrangement to the new arrangement where you’re essentially creating some certainty into the end of the year?