Gener8 Maritime has amended its senior secured credit facility with a consortium of lenders to complete the financing of its newbuilding programme in China.
The credit facility has been collectively been provided by Citibank, the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM) and the Bank of China and was agreed with the NYSE-listed shipowner on November 30 last year.
Originally, the facility was provide up to $259.6m of debt financing for the first four of Gener8’s six VLCCs being built in China, but this has been extended to up to $385.2m to finance all six of the vessels.
The amendment will extend the financing to the VLCCs Chiotis and Miltiades (both 320,000 dwt), which are due to arrive from China’s Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding in September and November this year respectively.
The first four of Gener8’s Chinese VLCC newbuildings have already been delivered and are Gener8 Strength, Gener8 Supreme, Gener8 Success and Gener8 Andriotis (all 320,000 dwt).
Gener8 Maritime’s chairman, Peter Georgiopoulos, said the agreement is “noteworthy given the challenging financing environment faced by our industry”.
The debt facility has a 2.0% margin over LIBOR and a 15-year amortisation profile, with export credit insurance support from Sinosure.
In addition to its China-built vessels, Gener8 has six VLCCs being built in South Korea for delivery this year, plus two more under construction at Hanjin Subic in the Philippines, set to hit the water in 2017.
