United Maritime Corp, a one-vessel spinoff of pureplay capesize bulker owner Seanergy Maritime, has acquired four secondhand tankers for $80m.
They consist of two 114,000-dwt aframax oil tankers built in 2006 at a South Korean shipyard and two 109,000-dwt LR2 product tankers built in 2008 at yards in China.
United Maritime, which spun off of Stamatis Tsantanis-led Seanergy on 20 June with its oldest capesize vessel, the 171,000-dwt Gloriuship (built 2004), did not disclose the sellers.
United Maritime, which trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange, expects to pay for the promptly delivered ships with cash on hand and money from committed credit facilities
“We are very pleased to announce this initial milestone transaction for United, which marks the company’s diversification into petroleum oil tankers and grows our fleet to almost 620,000 dwt,” chief executive Stamatis Tsantanis said in a statement.
“We expect this to prove a highly accretive acquisition for the company considering the recent appreciation in tanker values.”
Stamatis reiterated United Maritime’s previously announced intention to pursue a diversified business model, by finding attractive opportunities in sectors with strong fundamentals.
“The bullish outlook of the tanker sector, supported by low fleet growth and the steadily recovering demand for oil and refined petroleum products, makes this initial transaction an ideal fit for United,” he added.
United Maritime expects to fund the purchases with a $63.6m credit facility that will have an 18-month term and a 7.9% annual interest rate.
It will amortise through three quarterly payments of $3m and a $51.6m balloon payment due at maturity.
The company will pay for the rest of the purchase with $5m from Seanergy, which will buy 5,000 United Maritime preferred shares, and a $14m loan facility with the same lender that refinanced a $4.95m loan for Gloriuship.
The loan, which will also have an 18-month term and 7.9% interest rate, will amortise through three quarterly payments of $1m thsat will be followed by an $11m balloon payment at maturity.
United Maritime will start repaying the loans nine months after drawing them down.
