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Last week, SFL Corporation Ltd. announced that it had agreed to acquire four scrubber-fitted Aframax LR2 product tankers built in 2014/2015 from Frontline Ltd. for an aggregate purchase price of $160 million in combination with long-term time charters to a subsidiary of Trafigura.

Today’s word du jour is optimize. Everyone is doing it or so it seems. In its latest iteration, Flex LNG announced, in its latest quarterly earnings release, the initiation of a $100 million balance sheet optimization program to be completed in 12 months.

This new feature of our annual Benchmarking Issue highlights the relative performance of shipping companies that operate primarily in the same sector.

Under its current guise, Teekay LNG Partners L.P. announced last week that it has priced NOK 1,000 million in new senior unsecured bonds that mature in November 2026 in the Norwegian bond market.

The Norwegian bond market is renowned for its ease and simplicity of execution. A simple term sheet and an investor presentation is all that is required. To be fair, both the presentation and term sheets have evolved over time and become lengthier as transactions became more complicated requiring greater detail and disclosure of risks.

We erred in the preparation of two ancillary league table graphs in our annual Credit Issue.

It was almost three years ago that Hafnia Limited merged with BW Tankers to create the world’s largest product tanker fleet. In line with its advocacy of consolidation as a means to grow its platform in order to maximize shareholder value, the company earlier this month continued the process entering into an agreement to acquire Chemical Tankers Inc. (“CTI”), including its fleet of 32 modern and fuel-efficient IMO II product/chemical tankers through an issuance of new Hafnia shares.

The ship finance market is always busy. With 100,000 ships valued around $2 trillion, lots of sale and purchase transactions and an industry average loan tenor of just 5 years, the industry has constant appetite for capital. Although every year is active, 2021 was one of the more unusual years that I can remember.

We would concede that Atlas Corporation is generally transparent although, in our view, it is less than forthcoming, when it comes to details. In its Q3 2021 earnings report, the company disclosed that it had arranged $5.3 billion or 70% of the required financing for its 70-vessel newbuilding program with a total capex of $7.6 billion and was on target to close an additional $1.6 billion by year-end.

MPC Container Ships ASA (“MPCC”) is firing on all cylinders enabling it to achieve its goal of returning capital to its shareholders with the added benefit of de-risking the company. In an eventful announcement, MPCC disclosed late last month that it had entered into a series of transformational transactions which increased the company’s balance sheet flexibility.

On Monday, Höegh Autoliners ASA was admitted to trading on Euronext Growth in Oslo having successfully placed 57.5 million new shares, which includes a 7.5 million share upsize, at NOK 21/share raising gross proceeds of NOK 1,208 million (~$133 million) in a private placement.

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The annual Rankings issue has always been a source of genuine discomfort. Underlying human nature are a competitive spirit and the need to win. On the other hand, who wants to rank their friends, and to what purpose? It is simply a means to lose them. Moreover, the Rankings results do not reflect true individual performance, as sector participation or being in the right place at the right time are key determinants of a company’s standing. The question before us was then how to make better use of the data generated by our Rankings model.

Last week, Klaveness Combination Carriers ASA (“KCC”) successfully completed an equity private placement with gross proceeds of NOK 213 million, to fund energy efficiency initiatives on its current fleet and for general corporate purposes.

Also, enjoying the blessings of a strong container market, Triton International Limited announced last month the successful strategic transition of the company’s debt capital structure to primarily unsecured debt.

At the end of September, we published the following piece in Freshly Minted puzzled by the lack of activity in the Norwegian bond market at least with respect to shipping.

If there was ever such a position as "ship finance historian," I would apply for the job.
For more than 20 years, I have been closely following the companies, deals, families, individual entrepreneurs, lenders, lawyers, brokers, and other creatures who have existed in the ship finance biome.

Investors these days are laser focused on climate change and are investing heavily in companies that support the decarbonization effort. Despite the crucial role it will play in the development of wind energy, Eneti Inc.’s story unfortunately did not resonate with investors.

Last week, Gram Car Carriers ASA (“GCC”), a newly-established Norwegian company, announced its plan to issue the NOK equivalent of approximately $100 million, with an over-allotment option of 10%, in an equity private placement.

Earlier this month, Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö (“Eckerö”) successfully placed its first bond, issuing EUR 62 million of five-year senior secured bonds in the Norwegian market. The notes bear interest at three-month EURIBOR + 7.00% in line with initial price talk.