Greece's Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) is ordering up to three shuttle tankers after securing long-term deals that could see it bank $250m.
The New York-listed unit of the Tsakos group said a major European end-user has signed an agreement for the new DP2 suezmaxes, which will be built in South Korea. The shipowner did not reveal the shipyard.
"TEN continues its profitable and market-proven policy of attractive long-term charters to grow its fleet at periods of competitive newbuilding prices," said its chief operating officer George Saroglou.
"By doubling our presence in this very selective, with high-barriers-to-entry, sector, we add market share and substantially increase our bottom line."
He added that "accretive fleet growth" and renewal remains a cornerstone of its strategy.
This, together with healthy dividends and stock buybacks, should help it achieve a more realistic share valuation, Saroglou said.
Dividends to rise
The TEN fleet consists of 65 ships on the water, and an LNG carrier and two suezmaxes on order.
Its three existing shuttle vessels were built in 2013 and 2017 at Sungdong Group in South Korea.
TEN said in June it would hike its dividend payment by half in the second quarter, to reflect an increase in profits amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As a further sign of how sanguine it is about the prospects of its oil transport business, the company signalled it was about to conclude negotiations for up to three tanker newbuildings on the back of secured employment.
TEN's chartering strategy consists in tying up a large part of its fleet in long-term charters, the revenues of which are earmarked to cover the company's operational and financial expenses. Spot charters supply the net profit.
TEN had 24 of its 63 tankers on fixed time charter contracts as of 10 June.
