SinOceanic Shipping takes delivery of 13,000-TEU MSC Regulus

A WHOLLY-owned subsidiary of SinOceanic Shipping ASA, SinOceanic III AS (Sino III), has taken delivery of the MSC Regulus with a capacity of 13,100 TEU and placed her on a 15-year bareboat charter party with Mediterranean Shipping Company, Geneva, at a daily rate of US$46,650.

The vessel was purchased for $156 million and the initial working capital requirements of Sino III have been financed by a $100 million secured first priority loan which carries an interest of 12 per cent per annum the first year, and 11 per cent in the second optional year.

In addition, the company has arranged for a $20 million secured second priority mezzanine loan which also carries an interest of 12 per cent a year, and a $44 million secured third priority loan which carries an interest of 19 per cent p.a and a back-end fee in the amount of $1 million, payable at maturity. Also these loans have a tenor of one option one year.

The latter loan has been provided by Oceanus International Investment, the largest shareholder in the company, and is without recourse to the company. The loan is re-financeable, and it is the company's intention to seek to refinance this loan once the equity markets normalise.

It is also the objective of Sino III to refinance the senior and mezzanine loans with bank financing in China, or elsewhere, as soon as possible and in accordance with the terms of the loans. The work to refinance these loans is already in progress.

With the delivery of the MSC Regulus, the company has completed its present vessel acquisition programme.

The company now operates four container vessels with a total container carrying capacity of 44,000 TEU consisting of YM Portland (4,440 TEU), MSC Vega, MSC Altair and MSC Regulus, which are three Very Large Container Ships (VLCS) each of 13,100 TEU carrying capacity. The fleet makes the company a top tier container ship provider in Europe.

Total aggregated fixed freight income from the vessels in the fleet is projected to be $1 billion over the charter party periods, and the annual EBITDA is estimated to be $60 million.