Athens: A “first-class charterer” has timechartered a NewLead Holdings bitumen tanker for a minimum of one year.
The new contract includes an option to extend by up to four additional one-year periods, NewLead said today.
Ioli (3,396 dwt, built 2009) was purchased by the company in January and has already been delivered to the charterer.
The ship is one of five second-hand bitumen tanker vessels purchased by NewLead this year. The acquisitions also include the 2009-built Captain Nikolas I, Nepheli, Katerina L and the 2008-built Sofia.
The Katerina L won a contract of affreightment from an unnamed charterer in February this year.
“NewLead continues to perform on its adaptive, prudent and long-term chartering strategy to optimise the employment of the company’s fleet and enhance the revenues and cash flow of the company,” Michael Zolotas, chairman and CEO of NewLead, said in a statement today.
“NewLead follows a responsive chartering strategy to market conditions, capitalising on its commercial and technical expertise to capture opportunities with first-class oil majors and traders.”
NewLead says it has approximately 48.58% and 38.05% of its operating days covered for 2015 for its dry bulk and tanker vessels, respectively.
