Knot Offshore adds Tordis Knutsen to shuttle tanker fleet

Knot Offshore Partners has completed its acquisition of the ownership interests in the company that owns and operates the shuttle tanker Tordis Knutsen.

In a transaction that involves several companies, Knot Shuttle Tankers AS, a subsidiary of Knot Offshore Partners, has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Knot 24, the company that owns the 2016-built shuttle tanker Tordis Knutsen, from Knutsen NYK.

Knot said on Wednesday that the acquisition was completed for an aggregate purchase price of $147 million less $137.5 million of outstanding indebtedness plus approximately $21.1 million for a receivable owed by Knutsen NYK Offshore to KNOT 24.

Also included in the deal is $0.8 million for certain capitalized fees related to the financing of the Tordis Knutsen.

On the closing of the acquisition, Knot 24 repaid approximately $42.8 million of the indebtedness, leaving an aggregate of approximately $94.9 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. On the closing of the acquisition, Knutsen NYK repaid Knot 24 in full.

The Tordis Knutsen is a 156,559-deadweight ton shuttle tanker, built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea and delivered in November 2016. The vessel is operating in Brazil under a five-year time charter with a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, which will expire in the first quarter of 2022. The charterer has options to extend the charter for two five-year periods.

Including the Tordis Knutsen, Knot Offshore now has a fleet of twelve vessels with an average age of 4.5 years and a fixed average employment of 4.9 years.