JOHN Fredriksen controlled shipowning company Ship Finance International is buying two 17,000 dwt chemical tanker newbuildings for US$60.2m. The company explains the move by saying: "This transaction is another verification of Ship Finance's strategy to diversify both the asset base and the customer portfolio with new profitable transactions. These vessels are the first chemical tankers in our portfolio, and we anticipate further growth opportunities in this segment." The vessels are expected to be delivered from the unnamed shipyard in March and August this year, and will then go onto a 10 year bareboat charter to privately owned Norwegian-based privately owned chemical tanker company Bryggen Shipping & Trading . The agreed bareboat charter rate will be $8,000 per vessel per day, and at the end of the charter period, Bryggen is granted a fixed price purchase option of $20 million per vessel. Bryggen has sub-chartered the vessels for 10 years on a bareboat charter to Chinese-based chemical logistics provider Sinochem International.

Ship Finance says: "The transaction will be financed with a 10-year senior loan facility of USD 49 mill. and an equity contribution of USD 11.2 mill. The interest rate has been swapped to fixed rate for the entire loan period and the average annual net cash contribution after estimated interest expense and debt repayment is estimated to approximately $1.4ml."