Okeanis Eco Tankers is pulling its three youngest VLCC vessels out of Chinese leases.
The New York and Oslo-listed Alafouzos family vehicle, with a fleet of six suezmaxes and eight VLCCs, has declared purchase options on the 2020-built Nissos Anafi and the 2022-built Nissos Kea and Nissos Nikouria.
All three ships are under sale and leasebacks with CMB Financial Leasing, with the younger pair since 2022 and amended in early 2024, when the Nissos Anafi leaseback was also agreed with the Chinese lessor.
Okeanis Eco Tankers has tapped “a prominent Greek bank” for $130m financing of the Nissos Nikouria and Nissos Anafi and said it is also working on closing a similar deal to fund the buyback of the Nissos Kea.
The new loan, secured by the two VLCCs, matures in seven years and comes with an interest rate of Term SOFR plus 140 basis points. The company said it would be repaid in quarterly installments of $1.9m for both vessels, together with balloon installments of $76.8m for both vessels.
“The vessels under this new financing will benefit from some of the most competitive financing terms within our fleet,” said Iraklis Sbarounis, chief of finance Okeanis Eco Tankers, adding: “By capitalizing on the current favorable financing environment, we are improving our capital structure, while enhancing the company’s resilience against geopolitical and other risks and costs that our industry may be facing.”
Energy News Beat