Okeanis Eco Tankers has cleared a debt owed to main shareholder Ioannis Alafouzos that helped order a new VLCC.
The New York and Oslo-listed tanker owner’s annual report shows that $16.7m was handed back to its chairman in March.
The lender was Okeanis Marine Holdings, controlled by Alafouzos.
The principal amount related to the acquisition of the 300,000-dwt Nissos Kea, delivered from South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2022.
VesselsValue assesses the ship as worth $130.8m now. It was ordered by the Alafouzos family’s private Kyklades Maritime in September 2020 for $86m.
Two leaseback agreements for the VLCC and its sister ship Nissos Nikouria (built 2022) were amended by Okeanis earlier this year.
The owner cut the pricing to 200 basis points over the secured overnight financing rate, extended maturities to December 2030 for the Nissos Kea and March 2031 for the Nissos Nikouria, and eliminated early prepayment fees when exercising purchase options.
Okeanis, which has 14 modern tankers, has posted the biggest annual profit in its six years as a public company.
Net earnings were $145.3m for 2023, up from $84.6m in the previous year.
Higher financing costs caused by rising interest rates weighed on results, climbing at an annual pace of 61% in the full year to $61.2m.
On 2 February, however, the company said it lowered some of its financing costs through a $73.5m sale-and-leaseback deal for its 318,950-dwt VLCC Nissos Anafi (built 2020) with China’s CMB Financial Leasing.
The Alafouzos family, which is led by brothers Ioannis and Themistoklis, owns 58% of Okeanis. No other outside shareholder owns more than 5%.
The company is led by Ioannis’ son Aristidis Alafouzos as chief executive.
