Greece's Top Ships and Swiss trader Gunvor have continued their shipowning partnership with a deal to buy two new MR tankers.
The Nasdaq-listed shipowner said the companies will each own 50% of the 50,000-dwt eco vessels Eco Yosemite Park and Eco Joshua Park, both delivered in March from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in South Korea.
The seller is a company affiliated with Top Ships chief executive officer Evangelos Pistiolis.
Top Ships' 50% share of the vessels' owning companies is costing it $27m.
The tankers will be owned by joint ventures formed by the Greek shipowner and Gunvor subsidiary Just-C.
Both have been chartered to Gunvor shipping arm Clearlake Shipping, one of the largest charterers of tankers in the world. The deals involve a firm term of five years, plus two additional optional years.
The total potential gross revenue backlog from these contracts is about $91.7m.
VesselsValue rates the ships as worth about $38m each.
Both have a five-year financing agreement in place with a major Greek bank for about 45% of their charter-free value.
More tankers to come
Pistiolis' Central Shipping Monaco still has three more MRs due from HMD, as well as two suezmaxes from parent Hyundai Heavy Industries. All are due next year.
Last week, Gunvor confirmed the sale of two more tankers owned by the two companies had been completed.
The trader said it had achieved a 50% return on its investment in the 49,703-dwt sisterships Holmby Hills and Palm Springs (both built 2018), but no price was revealed.
Clearlake has been chartering these ships too. According to an exchange filing, the Holmby Hills was fixed at $14,600 per day for the first two years and $15,025 per day for the third.
The Palm Springs was chartered at $14,750 per day for the first 24 months and $15,175 per day for a further 12 months.
Clarksons data showed Holmby Hills was sold to Oceanix Services while VesselsValue said Global Meridian Holdings is the new owner of Palm Springs, with TradeWinds reporting JP Morgan as the ultimate owner.
Through Just-C, Gunvor said it continues to hold 33% or 50% interests in 15 product tankers after the recent sales.
