Scorpio Exercises Purchase Option for Six MR Tankers

Monaco-headquartered shipowner Scorpio Tankers said it has exercised its options to buy back six MR product tankers from China's CMB Financial Leasing Co., Ltd.

Scorpio had sold the six ships to CMB in 2018 and leased them back on eight-year bareboat charters with options to buy after four years.

The vessels are the STI Battery, STI Milwaukee, STI Tribeca, STI Bronx, STI Manhattan and STI Seneca, all 49,990 dwt and built in 2014 and 2015.

New York-listed Scorpio, which announced the move in its fourth-quarter update, said the leases bear interest at LIBOR plus a margin of 3.20% per annum and that the buybacks will reduce its debt by $99 million.

The deal is expected to close before the end of 2022, Scorpio said.