Teekay Tankers to Aquire 12 Suezmax Tankers

Teekay Tankers announced that it has agreed to acquire 12 Suezmax tankers from Principal Maritime Tankers, a $662 million deal.

Teekay Tankers Ltd. (Teekay) Wednesday announced that it will acquire a fleet of 12 modern Suezmax tankers at the end of October 2015, which are currently under ownership of Principal Maritime Tankers (Principal), at a cost of $662 million. 

The deal is said to give Teekay one of the largest suezmax fleets in the world, adding the 12 new vessels to Teekay's already existing fleet of 10 Suezmax vessels.

"The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to Teekay Tankers' earnings, free cash flow and net asset value per share," stated the company.

The new additions to Teekay's fleet, which are said to have an average age of 5.5 years, will bring the average age of Teekay Tankers' vessels down by 1.2 years, and are expected to operate upon or soon after delivery in the spot tanker market.

"Teekay Tankers will become one of the largest owners of modern Suezmax tankers at the right point in the tanker market cycle when positive market fundamentals support continued strength in spot tanker rates," Kevin Mackay, CEO at Teekay Tankers. 

"Including the five Aframax tankers we acquired earlier this year, this acquisition will increase Teekay Tankers' owned fleet by over 60 percent and solidifies our position as the largest owner and operator of mid-size crude oil tankers.

"This significant increase in our scale will allow us to further optimize our fleet efficiencies, enhance our service offering to both existing and new customers across more regions, and expand our presence in the evolving global Suezmax trade-routes. 

"With a larger fleet, we are better positioned take advantage of the growing demand for Suezmaxes resulting from greater long-haul Suezmax movements from the Atlantic to Pacific basins as well as the niche intra-regional voyages that are increasingly stretching Suezmax tonnage supply," Mackay added.

In June, Teekay reported the launch of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier in South Korea that is "the most efficient LNG ship on the water with the lowest unit freight cost in the world fleet."