KNOT Offshore Partners Adds Vigdis Knutsen Tanker

Scotland-based KNOT Offshore Partners LP has finalized the acquisition of the ownership interests in the company that owns and operates the 156,559 dwt shuttle tanker Vigdis Knutsen.

The company informed that the purchase price reached USD 147 million, less USD 137.7 million of outstanding indebtedness plus some USD 17.9 million for a receivable owed by Knutsen NYK to KNOT 25 and USD 0.9 million for certain capitalized fees related to the financing of the Vigdis Knutsen.

On the closing of the acquisition, KNOT 25 repaid USD 42.8 million of the indebtedness, leaving an aggregate of USD 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 the receivable in full.

Built by South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries and delivered in February 2017, the tanker is operating in the Brazil under a five-year time charter with a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc. The charter deal will expire in the second quarter of 2022 and the charterer has options to extend the agreement for two five-year periods.

Including the Vigdis Knutsen, the Partnership now has a fleet of thirteen vessels with an average age of 4.6 years and a fixed average employment of 4.6 years.