Vitol has reportedly emerged as the charterer of a second suezmax newbuilding from Nordic American Tankers (NAT).
Brokers report that the 157,000-dwt Nordic Cygnus has been fixed to the commodities trader at $21,000 per day for three years, with an option to extend the charter by one year and a second option to lengthen it by another 12 months.
In June, TradeWinds reported that the first vessel — the Nordic Aquarius — had been fixed out to Equinor for three to five years, also at $21,000 per day.
The tanker newbuildings are part of a three-ship order by NAT at Samsung Heavy Industries.
The Nordic Cygnus and Nordic Aquarius were delivered earlier this year. A broker said the third ship — the Nordic Tellus — is scheduled to be delivered later this month and open for employment opportunities in Yosu on 31 October.
TradeWinds understands that the latest Vitol deal was done some weeks ago. NAT and Vitol declined to comment.
All of the three same-capacity ships do not have scrubbers but, based on NAT’s stated policy, the New York-listed owner will only install them if charterers cover the costs.
Rare crude deals
Period charters for longer than a year have been few and far between in the crude tanker sector since late last year, with most owners reluctant to fix their ships out during the current downturn.
However, NAT — a suezmax specialist plagued by spot-market weakness — has been seeking to shore up its balance sheet in recent quarters.
In the last three months of 2017, NAT sold the three SHI tanker newbuildings to Ocean Yield and leased them back on 10-year bareboat charters to secure full financing for them.
The company also sold eight vessels aged 20 years or more to secure cash flows of nearly $80m in the second quarter of this year.
