John Fredriksen’s Ship Finance International has finished off 2018 with the acquisition of two containerships, its fourth deal in the sector for the year.
The company has added a pair of 2016-built 19,400 teu boxships and contracted them until late 2033 on long-term bareboat charters. The charters are worth around $470m, and the client has a purchase obligation at the end of the charters.
Ole Hjertaker, CEO of Ship Finance Management, commented: “This new acquisition broadens our relationship with one of the world’s largest liner companies. Over the last nine months we have added more than $1.2 billion to our charter backlog in a series of accretive acquisitions. In this case, our equity investment is limited to approximately $15 million per vessels as we have secured non-recourse lease financing with a tenure matching the charter period. We believe that our strong balance sheet and ability to source attractively priced capital will allow us to continue to grow our charter backlog and cash flow visibility going forward.”
Ship Finance International acquired a fleet of 15 feedermax vessels in March, four 14,000 teu boxships in June and three 10,600 teu boxships in August. This latest deal takes its boxship tally for the year to 24 vessels.
