Frontline seals four-ship refinancing

John Fredriksen’s Frontline has secured a fresh refinancing deal for four of its vessels.

The New York- and Oslo-listed tanker giant said it had entered into three senior secured credit facilities of $239m in total, which will refinance three VLCCs and one suezmax vessel and, in addition, provide revolving credit capacity in a total amount of up to $91.9m.

The first deal, which will refinance outstanding debt on two VLCCs, has been struck with ING and First Citizens. It will provide up to $119.7m, with $51.6m revolving credit capacity.

The third VLCC will be refinanced through a $72.3m arrangement with Crédit Agricole which provides a revolving credit of up to $25.4m.

The company has also agreed a $47m loan with SEB secured by an unnamed suezmax which will refinance outstanding debt on the vessel and make an additional $14.9m available.

All three financings have a tenor of five years and bear interest at the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) plus a margin of between 160 and 170 basis points per annum.

Last year, Frontline, with a fleet of over 80 ships, refinanced 10 suezmax tankers via a $512m sale-and-leaseback agreement with CMB Financial Leasing, generating net cash proceeds of $101m in the fourth quarter.

Inger Klemp, Frontline’s chief of finance said the new deals leave the company with no debt maturities until the end of 2026.

“Through these new financings we further strengthen our strong liquidity and reduce our borrowing costs and cash break even rates,” she noted.