Pelagic Credit commits $30m to first suezmax crude tanker deal

Pelagic Credit has committed $30 million in mezzanine financing for two suezmax crude oil tankers, each able to carry about 1 million barrels, marking the Oslo-listed investor’s first move into the crude tanker segment.

The Limassol-headquartered shipping investment company will provide an 18-month loan facility tied to employment of both vessels on time charters with a Geneva-based commodities trading group. Pelagic Credit expects roughly $3 million in distributable earnings from interest and fees over the facility’s life.

Both tankers will enter time charters with an unnamed independent global energy and commodities trader based in Geneva, Switzerland. The charters will run for the full financing term, supplying contracted cash flow for debt service and concentrating repayment reliance on one trading counterparty.

Pelagic Credit expects closing during November, subject to customary conditions. A security package and corporate support back the facility. The company has not disclosed the vessels’ identities, their owner or the financing counterparty.

Chief Executive Tobias Backer said the transaction marked “another third-party investment for the company, extending its portfolio into the suezmax segment while maintaining its focus on contracted earnings.” The emphasis is on secured, contracted cash flow rather than an open-ended bet on the crude tanker market.

What does the $30 million facility change for shipowners and shippers?

For shipowners, the arrangement offers mezzanine capital against two crude tankers’ contracted employment. The benefit is a defined 18-month revenue stream for the loan’s duration. The trade-off is dependence on the undisclosed charterer once the facility must be serviced from charter cash flow.

For lenders, the transaction supplies a specific repayment mechanism: cash flows from full-term time charters, backed by security and corporate support. Pelagic Credit’s estimated $3 million in distributable earnings comes from interest and fees, not from the tankers’ spot-market earnings.

For shippers and freight forwarders, the deal announces no cargo allocation, route, loading port or freight rate. A financing close does not set a benchmark for crude tanker rates or guarantee additional vessel capacity. Freight terms do not change on announcement. The market gets no charter rate, availability percentage or cargo volume, so no defensible rate forecast follows.

The commercial effect is narrow: Pelagic Credit has agreed to fund a contracted crude tanker exposure, not to announce a cargo-booking opportunity or a change in vessel supply.

How does the suezmax deal fit Pelagic Credit’s wider portfolio?

The facility follows a quick expansion since the company’s Oslo listing in March. Pelagic Partners backs the platform, which has extended into several shipping asset classes while retaining a third-party investment model.

Two July commitments show the scale of that build-out:

• $24.7 million in pre-delivery financing for two 10,000 dwt chemical tanker newbuildings.
• $47.4 million in a separate sale-and-leaseback covering three Hartmann-controlled handysize bulk carriers.

The portfolio already spans dry bulk, chemical tankers, multipurpose vessels and offshore support tonnage. The two suezmaxes add crude oil tankers to that mix, extending the platform beyond the chemical tanker and dry bulk transactions cited in July.

The structure differs from the July chemical tanker deal. Pre-delivery financing covers two 10,000 dwt chemical tanker newbuildings; the $30 million facility centers on employment-backed lending for two 1-million-barrel crude tankers.

These deals do not establish a broader market rate or a fleet-supply forecast. They show Pelagic Credit allocating large sums across shipping segments through third-party capital.

November’s closing will determine whether Pelagic Credit has added two 1-million-barrel crude tankers to its financed portfolio or only announced the capacity. The deal changes the platform’s exposure, not the market’s rate direction.