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Safe Bulkers amends $30.3m loan from Nordea

Safe Bulkers has extended the maturity of its $30.3m loan from Nordea Bank by a further two years as part of its ongoing policy to adjust its overall debt repayment profile.

The extended amortisation period will reduce the final balloon payment from $24.5m, which was originally due in June 2019, to $19.9m in June 2021. The facility is secured against one of the NYSE-listed company’s capesize bulk carriers.

“This agreement concludes the refinancing of all balloon payments under all our credit and loan facilities initially scheduled prior to 2020, to subsequent years. Following this agreement, our first balloon payment will be due in 2021,” Dr. Loukas Barmparis, Safe Bulkers’ president, said in a release.

This is the fifth time Safe Bulkers has amended loan facilities with its lenders order “to maintain a comfortable debt repayment profile, at very competitive costs”, as Barmparis stated previously.

In March, the company extended the tenor of its existing credit facility with Unicredit by a further three years. A balance of $51.8m is still outstanding under the loan, which is secured against four unspecified vessels.

Safe Bulkers also extended the tenor of its credit facility with DNB (UK) by a further two years in February. The credit facility has a balance of $145.5m outstanding and is secured against 10 of Safe Bulkers’ vessels, plus an additional newbuilding due for delivery in March.

The company secured a new $40m term loan from Danmarks Skibskredit (Danish Ship Finance) in January, with which to refinance an existing $44.9m credit facility related to one post-panamax and two panamax bulk carrier.

The same month, it also refinanced three of its existing credit facilities with a new $75.3m term loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland. The three facilities are worth a combined $82.4m and relate to a capesize, a post-panamax and a panamax bulk carrier.

 

 

Holly Birkett

Holly is Splash's Online Editor and correspondent for the UK and Mediterranean. She has been a maritime journalist since 2010, and has written for and edited several trade publications. She is currently studying for membership of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. In 2013, Holly won the Seahorse Club's Social Media Journalist of the Year award. She is currently based in London.
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