Euronav announces acquisition of three VLCCs under construction
Euronav NV has entered into an agreement for the acquisition through resale of three VLCC newbuilding contracts, the company said in its release.
The three VLCCs are currently completing construction at the DSME shipyard in South Korea and are being acquired for an aggregate purchase price of USD 280.5million or USD 93.5million per unit.
All three vessels will be fitted with Exhaust Gas Scrubber technologyand Ballast Water Treatment System. The vessels are due to be delivered early in the fourth quarter 2020 and in January and February 2021 respectively and will therefore have exposure to the key winter freight markets in 2020/2021.
Euronav will meet the financing of this acquisition with existing borrowing facilities and debt capacity. The payment profile for this transaction means that the largest portion of the instalments on each vessel will be made on delivery of each ship.
About Euronav
Euronav is an independent tanker company engaged in the ocean transportation and storage of crude oil. The Company is headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium, and has offices throughout Europe and Asia. Euronav is listed on Euronext Brussels and on the NYSE under the symbol EURN. Euronav employs its fleet both on the spot and period market. VLCCs on the spot market are traded in the Tankers International pool of which Euronav is one of the major partners. Euronav’s owned and operated fleet consists of 2 V-Plus vessels, 42 VLCCs, 27 Suezmaxes (two of which are in a joint venture) and 2 FSO vessels (both owned in 50%-50% joint venture).