Belships ASA will from now on concentrate 100% on the dry bulk market. In accordance with this shift in strategy M/T Belaia will be redelivered to owners at expiry of current c/p to Lauritzen Tankers around March 2014.
The owners are closely related to Imabari Shipbuilding and will in return replace the redelivered ship with a new eco-design Supramax bulk carrier of 61,000 dwt for delivery Q1 2017 on long term lease incl. purchase options. The terms for this new lease agreement will be very close to the terms for the redelivered ship, except that the lease period will be for minimum 8 years plus 3 yearly options.
Purchase option can be declared from end of year 4 onwards, starting at JPY 2.91 billion and decreasing annually by JPY 110 million. Through this new lease agreement Belships ASA will have three identical Supramax bulk carriers with eco-design from Imabari for delivery between Q4 2015 and Q1 2017.
Furthermore, Belships announced that they have secured new long term financing for their three bulk carriers already in service. The new term loan facility of USD 50 million is secured for a period of 6 years from February 2014, and both the margin and the covenants will be an encouraging improvement compared to the terms for the exisiting financing. They have also received attractive quotes for long term financing of their n/b program, but have not yet accepted any offer.
[mappress]
Belships, January 20, 2014