''New vessel supply over the next two years will lead to declines in freight rates. So, we are looking for partners for new businesses that tie in with our existing operations,'' said M.L. Chandchutha Chandratat, the TTA managing director.

He said the company saw growth potential in the region outstripped that of the local market, adding that new ventures could be set up under Mermaid Maritime, a company 49% held by TTA.

''We have several expansion ideas, but we can't really offer details right now,'' M.L. Chandchutha said.

TTA reported net profit of 2.58 billion baht for its first quarter ending Dec 31, compared with 1.128 billion in the same period the previous year. Revenues rose to 8.146 billion baht from 4.84 billion the year before.

''Our 2008 first-quarter net profit was the highest ever reported in TTA's history. If excluding unrealised exchange gains, our net profit increased 187.7% from the 2007 first quarter,'' M.L. Chandchutha said.

TTA booked an exchange-rate gain of 115.19 million baht for the first quarter of 2008, compared with gains of 271.67 million the same period the previous year.

Profit gains were attributed to high utilisation and strong freight or day rates in the dry bulk shipping and offshore services businesses, as well as gains on the sale of one dry bulk vessel.

Consolidated net profits, excluding exchange gains, for the dry bulk shipping group totalled 2.29 billion baht in the first quarter, up 100.52% from the previous quarter. The average time charter equivalent (TC) rate, including net contributions from chartered-in tonnage, increased 43.47% from $18,054 per vessel per day in quarter ending Sept 30 to $25,902 per vessel per day for the period ending Dec 31.

The shipping services group contributed 53.67 million baht in net profit to first-quarter earnings, excluding exchange losses, a rise of 1,633% from the previous quarter, while Mermaid Maritime, a provider of drilling and subsea engineering services, contributed 88.63 million, up 400%.

M.L. Chandchutha said freight charges were expected to fluctuate throughout the year, averaging $15,400 per vessel per day, on par with 2007. ''According to our customers, they believe that demand for vessel delivery would drop around 5% to 6% this year,'' he said.

Net profit would drop over the next few quarters from the record high posted for the first quarter as TTA will schedule maintenance for 20 vessels throughout the year. The company has 43 vessels and plans to order two more this year.

According to the Fearnleys-Bulk Fleet Update in January, new order bookings of tanker fleet would increase to 796 vessels with total capacity of 32,252 deadweight tonnes (DWT) in 2010, up from 403 vessels with total capacity of 77,052 DWT this year.

TTA shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 47.75 baht, down one baht, in trade worth 1.16 billion baht.