KNOT Offshore adds another shuttle tanker to its fleet

KNOT Offshore Partners has expanded its fleet to sixteen vessels, following the completion of acquisition of another shuttle tanker. 

KNOT Offshore’s subsidiary, KNOT Shuttle Tankers, has acquired all of the ownership interests in KNOT Shuttle Tankers 30, the company that owns and operates the shuttle tanker Anna Knutsen, from Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers.

KNOT Offshore said on Thursday that the acquisition was made for an aggregate purchase price of $120 million, less $106.8 million of outstanding indebtedness under the secured credit facility related to the vessel, plus approximately $1.4 million for certain capitalized fees related to the financing of the Anna Knutsen.

On the closing of the acquisition, KNOT 30 repaid approximately $32.4 million of the indebtedness, leaving an aggregate of approximately $74.4 million of debt outstanding under the secured credit facility related to the vessel. The purchase price was settled in cash and will be subject to certain post-closing adjustments for working capital and interest rate swaps.

The Anna Knutsen is DP2 Suexmax class shuttle tanker, delivered in March 2017 and is operating in Brazil under a time charter with Galp Sinopec Brazil Services B.V., which will expire in the second quarter of 2022. The charterer has options to extend the charter for two three-year periods.

Including the Anna Knutsen, the partnership now has a fleet of sixteen vessels with an average age of 4.6 years and a fixed average employment of four years.