John Fredriksen’s SFL Corporation has struck a deal to acquire three 2019-built suezmax tankers in combination with long-term time charters to a commodity trading and logistics company. No price for the transaction has been revealed.
The scrubber-fitted vessels have the latest eco-design features and should deliver in the fourth quarter of this year. The charter period of the vessels will be for a minimum of five years with extension options thereafter, adding around $140m to SFL’s fixed-rate backlog. The charterer will also have the option to develop a sale of the vessels during the charter period.
Ole B. Hjertaker, CEO of SFL Management, commented: “This acquisition demonstrates our ability to achieve sustained growth through new transactions with strong counterparties in multiple shipping segments. The spot tanker market is soft currently, and asset values have not moved like several other shipping segments. From a counter-cyclical perspective, we therefore believe this could be an attractive entry point in combined with long-term charters.”
Over the last few months, SFL has added multiple new vessels to its portfolio, increasing its charter backlog by more than $800m.