en.Wedoany.com Reported - Nasdaq-listed tanker owner Rubico has reached a deal with parent company Top Ships to acquire an MR newbuilding, while also announcing plans to exit the superyacht sector and reallocate capital to its tanker business.
The Athens-based company will acquire shares in a special purpose vehicle for approximately $6.25 million, which holds a contract for a 47,499 deadweight tonnage product/chemical tanker being built at Guangzhou Shipyard International. The vessel is scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2029.
The construction contract price for the vessel is $45.2 million, of which $6.8 million has already been paid. A Chinese leasing company will finance 85% of the installment payments through a sale-and-leaseback arrangement, with an interest rate of Term SOFR plus 1.8%.
The vessel has been chartered to an unnamed major oil trader under a seven-year time charter contract, effective from delivery, with an option to extend for four additional years. The potential total revenue from this charter is approximately $75.4 million, including the optional period.
This transaction gives Rubico two identical Guangzhou Shipyard International newbuildings, with a combined potential charter revenue of approximately $151 million. Including existing contracts for its operational tanker fleet, the total potential revenue backlog rises to approximately $304.6 million.
The latest tanker comes from a larger 10-vessel program in China involving interests related to Evangelos Pistiolis. Top Ships agreed in February to acquire nine of the 47,499 DWT vessels for approximately $41 million, while Rubico separately acquired another for $4.2 million. All 10 vessels are backed by seven-year time charters with renewal options.
In a separate announcement, Rubico said it will seek a buyer for a 60-meter superyacht currently under construction, scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2027.
Rubico estimates the sale could generate gross proceeds of €30 million to €35 million ($34.2 million to $40 million) and eliminate a remaining capital commitment of €26.5 million due before delivery. No buyer has been identified yet.
Rubico, spun off from Top Ships in August last year, owns the 2021-built Suezmax tankers Eco Malibu and Eco West Coast, each with a deadweight tonnage of 157,000 tons.
