Articles

Back in December, GasLog Ltd. announced that it ordered four newbuild 174,000 cubic meter LNG carriers with the latest generation MEGI propulsion from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. for delivery in 2024 and 2025.

We believe that the shipping industry will go through significant changes over the next several years as global trade reacts to the supply chain issues of the past two years, and that the global economy and financial markets are in a period of transition, in part due to the effects of the global COVID pandemic.

We are unquestionably technological Neanderthals. If we manage to use 5% of the capabilities of our iPhone, we would be surprised. Yet that doesn’t keep us from keenly observing the capabilities of our daughter’s generation in this regard. While social media is their predominant activity, we were most intrigued by the financial transactions taking place through Venmo.

It has been a busy period for Stamatis Tsantanis, who is serving as both Chairman and CEO of Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (“Seanergy”), a pure-play Capesize owner, and its newly spun off entity, United Maritime Corporation (“UMC”), which was formed to pursue a diversified business model with greater exposure to different shipping segments.

On Monday, Frontline Ltd. and Euronav NV announced that they have entered into a definitive Combination Agreement for a stock-for-stock combination (the “Combination”), formalizing the agreement that was signed back in April.

Following the adage of never putting all your eggs in one basket, Greek shipowners have a predilection to seemingly having as many shipping loans as they do ships.

Prior to announcing his departure from Ardmore Shipping Corporation, Paul Tivnan, along with his team, took on one last challenge.

Back in April 2021, New Fortress Energy (“NFE”) made the acquisition of a lifetime acquiring Hygo Energy Transition Ltd. and Golar LNG Partners (“GMLP”) from Golar Energy.

Like Sergeant Joe Friday of Dragnet fame, we too will limit ourselves to “just the facts, Ma’am.” We were left shaking our head in wonder at what the company accomplished within its first month of operation. It was a little more than two weeks ago that United Maritime Corporation (“UMC”) was successfully spun off from Seanergy Maritime Holdings and commenced trading on the NASDAQ.

Earlier this month, MPC Container Ships ASA (“MPCC”) announced that it took a major step on its route to decarbonization by contracting two carbon-neutral 1,300 TEU newbuildings at the Chinese shipyard, Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering, for delivery in the second half of 2024 at a price of $39 million each.

Back in June, Knausen Holding LLC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Global Ship Lease (“GSL”), successfully closed on the private placement of $350.0 million of privately rated/investment grade 5.69% Senior Secured Notes due 2027 (the “2027 USPP Notes”) to a limited number of accredited investors.

We are of the mind that Angeliki Frangou always knew deep down that operating a single diversified fleet would be preferable to individual pure play companies, as it would mitigate risk and provide better earnings by tempering the cycle.

Last week, Capital Product Partners L.P. (“CPLP”) disclosed the final terms of its latest bond issue. With a seven-year term, the €100 million bonds were priced with a coupon of 4.40%, at the tight end of the indicated price talk of 4.40% to 4.90%.

Last week, Capital Product Partners L.P. (“CPLP”) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, CPLP Shipping Holdings PLC, plans to offer up to €100 million of unsecured bonds to be guaranteed by CPLP and trade on the Athens Exchange. The net proceeds of the offering are intended to be used for vessel acquisitions, debt repayment, and working capital purposes.

Under historical cost accounting, an asset is recorded on the balance sheet at its original cost when acquired by the company and is subsequently depreciated over its expected useful life.

While some may prioritize optimizing debt, others simply seek to minimize it. Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (“Genco”) lives by its comprehensive value strategy which is focused on three key elements: significant dividends, deleveraging, and growth.

Last week, d’Amico International Shipping S.A. disclosed that it had entered into two refinancings including a new sustainability-linked loan. In the first instance, the company agreed to a five-year $82.0 million term facility with ING (Agent and the Sustainability Coordinator) and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken to refinance the bank loans maturing in 2023 on MT Cielo di Cagliari, MT Cielo Rosso, MT Cielo di Rotterdam, and MT Cielo di New York.

Benefiting from a windfall of cash as the product market continues its run, Scorpio Tankers is deploying it to the benefit of both its shareholders and balance sheet. Last week, the company announced that it had recently repurchased 364,474 of its common shares in the open market at an average price of $29.17 per share for a total of approximately $10.6 million.

Earlier this month, KNOT Offshore Partners LP (“KNOP”) announced today that it acquired the shuttle tanker, Synnøve Knutsen, from Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS, its sponsor, in a dropdown transaction.

Generally speaking, shipping has not only shaken off the impact of the pandemic, inflation, war, and recession fears, but is, also, for the most part thriving. The same cannot be said for the shipping banks.