Ship Finance International Buys Four 14,000 TEU Boxships

Ship Finance International Limited has inked a deal to acquire four 14,000 TEU containerships in combination with long-term time-charters to an unrevealed container line.

The eco-design boxships are set for delivery in the near term, the company said, adding that the purchase price remains confidential.

The time-charters to an Asia-based container line run until 2024, with options to extend the charters by 18 additional months.

“Our fixed-rate charter backlog will increase by nearly USD 450 million and the EBITDA contribution from these new vessels is estimated to approximately USD 60 million per year,” SFL said.

The consideration to the sellers will be cash plus approximately 4 million newly issued shares in Ship Finance. The company said that it would finance the cash portion of the transaction with cash on the balance sheet and a USD 320 million unsecured loan facility provided by an affiliate of Hemen Holding Ltd., the company’s largest shareholder.

SFL added that it was exploring long-term financing alternatives for these vessels in the Asian capital market.

 “This acquisition highlights Ship Finance’s strength and ability to achieve sustained growth and continued diversification. We are deploying a part of the recently raised capital, but still have capacity for new accretive opportunities. Over the last two months we have added nearly USD 600 million to our charter backlog and expect to continue increasing our fleet of vessels and charter backlog in 2018,” Ole B. Hjertaker, CEO of Ship Finance Management AS, said.