Tsakos Energy Navigation Gains Long Term Charter Extension for Ice-Class Suezmax

Image courtesy Tsakos Columbia Ship Management

Greek shipowner Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited (TEN) (NYSE: TNP) announced today a three-year time charter extension for the Arctic, a 2007 built, 163,216 dwt, suezmax tanker. The charter ontract will continue with an undisclosed South American state oil company.

The charter incorporates minimum and maximum levels and a 50:50 profit split for rates in between. The minimum gross revenues from this fixture are estimated in the region of $20.0 million.

Mr. Nikolas P. Tsakos, President and CEO of TEN comments,

“The principal of rate flexibility and profit sharing has become the cornerstone of our chartering policy and fits well with our long standing strategy of downside protection with upside potential. Moreover, the continuation of the employment with the existing charterer provides us with assurances that our vessels remain on the top-list of quality end-users which is where you want to be in challenging times like today.

We remain optimistic on the outlook of tankers and we will continue to position our fleet accordingly to take advantage of the market upturn when it materializes. With the upcoming introduction of our two shuttle tanker newbuildings, our overall minimum secured revenues today remain in excess of $1.1 billion which provides the base for strong cash flow generation and healthy dividend distributions.”