Navig8 Chemical Tankers has refinanced four vessels in a deal with a Chinese sale and leaseback company.
The shipowner, whose shares are listed on the Norwegian over-the-counter market, said it has banked net proceeds of $88.2m from the transaction with SPDB Financial Leasing (SPDBFL) for the unnamed IMO type 2, 37,000-dwt Interline-coated tankers.
Some of the money will be used to partially repay the company's existing multi-bank loan facility on the vessels, dating from February 2015, as well as a sale and leaseback facility with Norway's Ocean Yield entered into in the same year.
Navig8 Chemical has 18 of the 37,000-dwt vessels, all built in 2015 and 2016 at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea.
Long-term deals agreed
The company has signed long-term bareboat charters to take the four units back from the lessor.
There are also purchase options to reacquire the vessels during the charter period.
The first is for two ships and comes after two years, with the option for the other two exercisable after three years.
Navig8 Chemical must buy all of them back at the end of the charters, however.
The company was established in 2013 as a joint venture between Navig8 Group and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management.
It has 32 tankers in total, which are contracted to operate in various chemical tanker pools managed by Navig8 Group and Odfjell Tankers and on time charters with third-party charterers.
Ocean Yield said earlier this year it would make a profit of $9.7m from completing the sale of the 38,000-dwt Navig8 Amessi (built 2015) back to Navig8 Chemical.
Navig8 had declared a five-year buyback option for the bareboat-chartered vessel under a sale and leaseback agreement in January.
SPDBFL was set up in 2012 as a financial leasing venture between Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, COMAC, Shanghai International Group and Shanghai Long Hua International Aviation Investment.
TradeWinds reported earlier in 2020 that China's Bank of Communications Financial Leasing and SPDBFL had confirmed an order for very large ethane carriers (VLECs) chartered to Shandong Shipping's Pacific Gas.
According to Shandong, the vessels will be shipping ethane for chemicals giant Ineos under a long-term agreement.
TradeWinds first reported that the Chinese shipowner had ordered the 98,000-cbm pair at CSSC Jiangnan Shipyard in December.
