UK shipping fund Tufton Oceanic Assets is arranging bank finance for two secondhand MR tankers bought from an Evangelos Marinakis company.
The shipowner has usually funded acquisitions through equity issues, but this time is tapping an unnamed lender for $60m towards the 50,100-dwt Alkaios and Archon (both built 2016).
The purchase from Capital Ship Management at $73m was first reported by TradeWinds earlier this month.
London-listed Tufton confirmed the price in a statement on Tuesday.
The company said the fee was below the depreciated replacement cost of the vessels.
Tufton, which now has 23 ships, said the pair had been fixed out to a major commodity trading and logistics company for between three and five years.
These fixed-rate deals exceed the charter targets contained in the owner’s 2018 prospectus, it added.
Brokers have reported Trafigura as the charterer at $20,000 per day for the first three years.
The Archon will operate in the West, while its sistership will trade in Asia.
Third ship fixed
Trafigura has also taken Tufton’s 50,000-dwt Mia Grace (built 2014) for Western trading at $21,500 per day for three years.
Brokers had previously assessed three-year MR rates at $16,000 per day, showing how term markets keep strengthening.
Tufton’s new loan will be secured by the two Capital ships, plus two more product tankers bought earlier in 2022, one of which was the Mia Grace, acquired from Scorpio Tankers.
The money will be repaid over three to five years, depending on the charter coverage of the four vessels.
The fourth ship will be available for a new charter by April 2024.
Efficiency measures
“These four product tankers are in the top quartile of fuel efficiency in their market segment but will, nonetheless, be evaluated for further improvement, including the retrofit of energy saving devices,” Tufton said.
“These acquisitions, charters and financing demonstrate our commitments to capital reallocation and ESG, and also the strong improvement in the product and chemical tanker markets,” the fund added.
