Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited (TEN) announce a three-year time charter extension for the 2007 built, 163,216 dwt, double hull suezmax tanker, 'Arctic'.
The charter with the same South American state oil company incorporates minimum and maximum levels and a 50:50 profit split for rates in between. The minimum gross revenues from this fixture are estimated in the region of $20.0 million.
"The principal of rate flexibility and profit sharing has become the cornerstone of our chartering policy and fits well with our long standing strategy of downside protection with upside potential. Moreover, the continuation of the employment with the existing charterer provides us with assurances that our vessels remain on the top-list of quality end-users which is where you want to be in challenging times like today," said Mr. Nikolas P. Tsakos, President and CEO of TEN.
"We remain optimistic on the outlook of tankers and we will continue to position our fleet accordingly to take advantage of the market upturn when it materializes. With the upcoming introduction of our two shuttle tanker newbuildings, our overall minimum secured revenues today remain in excess of $1.1 billion which provides the base for strong cash flow generation and healthy dividend distributions," Mr. Tsakos concluded.
To date, TEN's pro forma fleet consists of 51 double-hull vessels of 5.5 million dwt. This figure includes one LNG carrier and two DP2 suezmax shuttle tankers under construction totaling 400,000 dwt.