CIT Maritime Finance of the US will provide Tanker Solutions with a $55m loan towards the cost of the quartet, it said in a statement.
The duo have been tight-lipped about their activity since it first emerged they had teamed up last year.
However TradeWinds reported in May that Castlelake, which changed its name from TPG Credit Management in August, and Prime had jointly acquired the 73,000-dwt tanker Pike (ex-Starling, built 2008) for a reported $24m.
CIT Maritime confirmed the deal in August when it announced it had financed that acquisition.
Late last year Prime was linked to three other vessels of similar size, all of which now appear on its website and shipping databases under its name.
They are the Sand Shiner (ex: Hellespont Prosperity, built 2006) for $23.2m and the 73,300-dwt Emerald Shiner (ex: Affinity) and 73,800-dwt River Shiner (ex: Perseverance, both built 2005) for $24.7m each.
It is not clear whether this latest financing is to cover these purchases or future acquisitions for Tanker Solutions.
However Michael Chalkias, co-CEO and co-founder of Prime Tanker Management, said the venture is likely to continue on the expansion trail.
“This financing provided by CIT allows us to further expand Tanker Solutions’ fleet, which in combination with Prime’s wider LR1 platform, results in commercially controlling one of the world’s largest fleets of LR1s trading in clean petroleum products,” he said.
“We look forward to building and expanding further this relationship.”
