Norway's Odfjell has taken full control of two ethylene carriers that have been on the sales block for two and a half years.

The Oslo-listed chemical tanker owner has acquired partner Celsius Shipping's stake in joint venture Odfjell Gas, which owns the 9,000-cbm Bow Guardian and Bow Gallant (both built 2008).

The vessels, assessed to be worth about $17m each by VesselsValue, are now fully owned and incorporated into Odfjell.

Odfjell has also completed a refinancing that funded 100% of the acquisition costs, it said on Thursday.

New financing sealed

"We refinanced four vessels with lower leverage and substantially improved terms," the shipowner said.

"The new financing was issued under our sustainability-linked finance framework."

In November, Odfjell secured new work for the two ethylene carriers, which are the only two gas ships it owns.

The vessels were pulled from the Lauritzen Kosan pool and were taken on time charter by Odfjell SE, which in turn sealed time charters to a "major petrochemical producer" for 18 months.

TradeWinds understands the charterer is Braskem in Brazil. The ships contributed time charter equivalent earnings of $3.8m in the first quarter of 2021.

Odfjell chief executive Kristian Morch has previously said the company was in no hurry to dispose of the duo.