Angeliki Frangou has secured long-term employment for yet another pair of newbuildings her Navios Maritime Partners has under construction, at levels considerably above the company’s previous ones.
Clarksons reports that independent US-based refiner PBF Energy agreed last week to spend $29,000 per day to fix two 115,000-dwt LR2 tankers that Navios has under construction at China’s Zhoushan Changhong International Shipbuilding, when they are delivered in 2027.
The deal in itself is not unusual for Navios, a US-listed shipping behemoth that likes concluding long-term charters for its newbuildings well ahead of time, to secure cash flows and visibility for shareholders.
It has 11 aframax/LR2s under construction at K Shipbuilding and Zhoushan Changhong, due for delivery by the second half of 2027.
Navios Partners’ annual report released on 3 April shows that it has agreed five-year employment for seven of them, with the charters expiring at various stages between August 2029 and May 2031 at net charter-out rates ranging between $25,576 per day and $27,798 per day.
It additionally revealed on 14 May that it agreed to charter out a further two LR2 newbuildings for five years at $27,776 net per day.
The PBF deal reported by Clarksons on 14 June concerns Navios Partners’ most recently ordered pair of LR2 newbuildings. Its higher level of $29,000 per day reflects the strengthening charter market for such ships, which has encouraged more and more companies to order them.
Such long-term charters help fund a considerable part of the tankers’ newbuilding costs.
Performance Shipping, a smaller tanker owner listed in New York and based in Athens, said in March that it covered nearly 90% of the construction expenses for two LR2 newbuildings being built in China.
Gunvor Group subsidiary Clearlake agreed to employ the pair for a firm five years at $31,000 per day in a deal worth close to $170m in total.
Navios also has six MR2 product carriers under construction at Imabari, due for delivery between the second half of 2025 and the first half of 2027.
Its annual report shows it has clinched five-year employment for the first two of them, at a net $22,959 per day.
Navios does not discuss commercial transactions outside public statements and filings.
