Gener8 Maritime, Inc., a U.S.-based provider of international seaborne crude oil transportation services, announced that it has entered into a senior secured credit facility for up to $963.7 million of debt financing for its VLCC newbuilding program to be drawn in connection with the deliveries of the vessels. The company today has additionally announced the refinancing of its previous senior secured credit facilities with Nordea Bank Finland. The refinancing facility provides $581.0 million in term loans, which were drawn on September 8, 2015.
Gener8 Maritime's Chairman, Peter Georgiopoulos, commented, "These agreements represent a key strategic milestone for our company as these financing commitments are expected to complete the funding for our 15 Korean ECO VLCC newbuildings, with no expected need to raise additional debt or equity as we take delivery of these newbuildings." Gener8 Maritime expects to enter into a separate credit facility to complete the funding for its 6 Chinese newbuildings.
The Korean newbuild facility has four separate tranches. A $282.0 million tranche of term loans will be provided by a syndicate of commercial lenders, a $139.7 million tranche of term loans will be fully guaranteed by The Export-Import Bank of Korea ("KEXIM"), a $197.4 million tranche of term loans will be provided by KEXIM, and a $344.6 million tranche will be insured by Korea Trade Insurance Corporation ("K-Sure"). Pursuant to the Korean newbuild facility, the debt financing will be secured by Gener8 Maritime's 15 Korean VLCC newbuildings and will have a blended margin over LIBOR across all tranches of approximately 2.33% when fully drawn. The weighted average amortization profile of the Korean newbuild facility will be approximately 12.9 years when fully drawn.
The loans under the refinancing facility will mature on September 3, 2020 and bear interest at a rate per annum based on LIBOR plus a margin of 3.75% per annum. The refinancing facility replaces two existing senior secured credit facilities with an aggregate outstanding principal amount of $656.3 million. The refinancing facility is secured by 25 of the Gener8 Maritime's vessels currently on the water.
Gener8 Maritime has a fully-delivered owned fleet of 46 vessels. Gener8's owned fleet is comprised of 21 VLCC newbuildings and 25 vessels on the water consisting of 7 VLCCs, 11 Suezmaxes, four Aframaxes, two Panamax tankers, and one Handymax tanker, with a total carrying capacity of over ten million deadweight tons, and average age on a DWT basis of less than six years upon delivery of the newbuildings. Gener8 Maritime is incorporated under the laws of the Marshall Islands and headquartered in New York.