TEN Fixes Tanker Trio

Greek tanker shipping company Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) has found work for three of its ships, an Aframax crude tanker and two MR product carriers, the company said.

The three ships have been chartered out for a period of six years and TEN expects the gross revenues from the contracts to exceed USD 32 million.

“With these fixtures, TEN continues to increase its long-term time charter coverage to major oil concerns and further solidify its cash flow and dividend visibility,” George Saroglou, Chief Operating Officer of TEN said.

“With 78% of the fleet in long-term charters, half of which with provisions to capture market upturns, resulting to minimum secured revenues of USD 1.4 billion, TEN is well positioned to benefit from the expected market upturn due to the fast declining orderbook and the seasonally strong months ahead,” Saroglou concluded.

The tanker owner and operator has just completed its 15-vessel newbuilding program with the delivery of the final ship from the batch- the ice-class Aframax tanker Bergen TS.

However, the costs associated with the new deliveries and the bringing forward of three drydockings, in order to secure the vessels availability for the seasonally stronger fourth quarter, contributed to the poor financial result of the company in the third quarter of the year.

TEN incurred a net loss of USD 3.4 million in the third quarter of 2017 amid challenging market conditions.

TEN’s fleet consists of 65 double-hull vessels, constituting a mix of crude tankers, product tankers and LNG carriers, totaling 7.2 million dwt.

Of these, 47 vessels trade in crude, 13 in products, three are shuttle tankers and two are LNG carriers.