Three Year Charters With Petrobras Bring Operating Coverage to 74% And 57% For the Remainder of 2003 and Full Year 2004, Respectively
Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited has announced new time-charter contracts for the suezmaxes Decathlon and Pentathlon with Petrobras, a state oil Company. Each contract commences in October of 2003 extending for three years at a fixed rate for the first contract and a min-max rate for the second contract, with the opportunity for profit sharing if the prevailing spot market dictates.
"We are extremely fortunate to have opportunities to expand our strong relationships with companies such as Petrobras," stated Nikolas P. Tsakos, President and CEO of TEN. "The Decathlon and Pentathlon were built to the highest specifications to meet the individual requirements of our clients. In tandem with superior customer service and support, TEN continues to offer its modern fleet directly to major oil producers. Further, as we announced last month, we have ordered two additional suezmax newbuildings for our young and modern fleet to meet the changing demands of oil producers worldwide."
Tsakos continued, "Recent news regarding the supply of oil has caused the stock price valuations of tanker companies to fluctuate. However, the long-term charters that we have secured for these vessels, as well as for the majority of our fleet, should provide a steady stream of revenues and earnings, despite any changes in crude oil supply. These new contracts show that we are focused on maintaining a balanced fleet employment profile of spot voyages and medium to long-term charters."
Overall TEN has 18 vessels operating with medium or long-term employment contracts which account for 74% of estimated operating days or $37 million gross revenues for the remainder of 2003 and 57% for 2004 or $124 million in revenues, positively impacting earnings and enhancing shareholder value.