John Fredriksen's SFL Corp has added to its containership fleet in increasingly expensive markets.
The New York-listed sale-and-leaseback specialist said it has bought two 6,800-teu vessels backed by charters to an unnamed leading container line.
The vessels are modern eco-designs built in 2013 and 2014.
SFL said the price for both is confidential.
The most likely candidates based on the specifications are five vessels controlled by Greek owner Embiricos Group's International Maritime Enterprises.
The only one of these built in 2014 is the 6,800-teu Paxi, which VesselsValue assesses as worth $87m. The other four are 6,881-teu ships built in 2013, which are worth a fraction less than that.
Alphaliner said the vessels acquired were the Paxi and the sistership Skiathos I.
Time charters will run for a minimum of six years, and there are purchase options with a profit split at the end of the fifth and six years.
SFL's fixed-rate charter backlog will increase by about $160m, and the Ebitda contribution from the vessels is estimated to be $22m per year.
SFL Corp is the main leasing unit of John Fredriksen's stable of companies.
Headquarters: Registered in Bermuda, the company's main executive offices are in Oslo
Listing: New York Stock Exchange under ticker SFL
Fleet: More than 80 ships in the tanker, bulker, containership and offshore sectors
Leadership: Ole Hjertaker, chief executive; Aksel Olesen, chief financial officer; Trym Otto Sjolie, chief operating officer
The rate equates to about $36,500 per day.
SFL has already received financing indications at attractive terms, and the balance will be funded by cash at hand, the company said.
Ole Hjertaker, chief executive of SFL Management, added that the deal highlights the company's strength and ability to achieve sustained growth through repeat transactions with the world's largest liner companies.
"We have firmly established ourselves as a quality operator of vessels, and our financial flexibility enables us to execute swiftly on new transactions," he added.
Over the past few months, SFL has added more than $400m to the charter backlog, with more expected to follow.
Embiricos has been cashing in on vessels in hot markets.
In May, TradeWinds reported that Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) had continued its relentless buying spree with the purchase of another two neo-panamax boxships worth an estimated $200m in total.
$100m each
The Geneva-based liner company was reported to have bought the 9,034-teu Skyros and Symi I (both built 2014) from International Maritime Enterprises.
The wide-beam vessels were believed to be costing about $100m per vessel.
SFL said in its first-quarter results it was expecting to expand its fleet further amid "challenging" banking conditions for shipping companies.
The company sees opportunities for growth following its transition to containership and bulker ownership over the last decade, reducing its exposure to tankers and offshore vessels.
In its results, SFL announced it had picked up a 2020-built boxship at a price it described as cheap in strong sale-and-purchase markets, backed by a seven-year charter to AP Moller-Maersk.
The only ship to fit the description is the 5,315-teu Yangtze Shanghai (built 2020), listed in the fleet of China's New Yangtze Navigation, its only boxship in a fleet of 14 bulkers.
Clarksons lists the vessel as chartered to Maersk last September for between eight and 10 months. VesselsValue assesses it as worth $63m.
SFL's net profit recovered to $31.5m in the first quarter, against a loss of $165.2m in the fourth quarter of 2020, when it took a vessel impairment hit of $253m.
