Ship Finance International seals $270m sale and leaseback for boxship trio

John Fredriksen’s Ship Finance International (SFI) has entered into a $270m lease financing agreements with an Asian-based institution, which sees it sell three 10,600 teu containerships acquired earlier this year.

The vessels are on long-term time charters to Maersk Line until 2024, with further options to extend the charters by up to four years.

SFI is leasing the vessels back from the buyer for a term of more than 10 years, with an option to re-acquire the vessels back after six years when the charters to Maersk expire.

Some of the proceeds from the lease financing deal has been used to refinance the $200m loan facility arranged when the vessels were acquired.

SFI recently completed a similar leasing deal for four 14,000 teu, on charter to Evergreen, worth $400m.

Ole B. Hjertaker, CEO of Ship Finance Management, commented: “Our continued ability to source highly competitive capital, with nearly $700 million raised in the matter of few weeks, allows us to act swiftly on accretive opportunities. This has allowed us to continue to expand and renew our portfolio and simultaneously increase our investment capacity.”