Top Ships Inc. has closed the acquisition of three high-specification, scrubber-fitted MR product tanker newbuildings scheduled for delivery in 2029, locking each hull into a five-year time charter with an unnamed oil major that holds a one-year extension option.

The Athens- and New York-listed tanker owner confirmed closing of the share purchase agreement originally signed July 28, 2026 with a related-party seller. Under that SPA, Top Ships acquired the shares of three single-purpose companies, each party to a shipbuilding contract with an established, world-class yard for one MR product tanker. The vessels are designed as ECO units and fitted with exhaust gas scrubbers, positioning them for sulfur-emission compliance without dependence on scrubber-priced fuels.

Each tanker begins its charter on delivery in 2029 for a firm period of five years, extendable by a further 12 months at the charterer's election. The combination of fixed employment and scrubber-fitted propulsion translates into contracted revenue visibility stretching to at least 2034, with optional coverage to 2035 should the extension be exercised.

What is the asset package?

Three MR newbuilds represents a meaningful block addition for Top Ships, which has positioned itself as a specialist in ECO tanker tonnage. The MR segment has attracted sustained charter demand through 2024 and 2025 from oil majors seeking compliance-ready product carriers for clean and dirty product trades on Atlantic Basin, Mediterranean and intra-Asia routes.

The company did not disclose the acquisition price, financing structure or yard identity in the announcement. The relationship between the seller and Top Ships was characterized as "related party" — a designation that will trigger the disclosure and governance protocols customary for affiliated transactions in U.S. and Greek capital markets.

What does the charter package mean commercially?

Five-year firm tenure with a top-tier charterer is among the strongest cash-flow contracts available to a mid-cap product tanker owner. MR day rates have traded in a multi-year firm band, with oil majors consistently outbidding spot and shorter-period operators for scrubber-fitted tonnage qualified to carry feedstock and refined product grades requiring segregation.

The scrubber specification reduces the charterer's exposure to fuel-cost volatility tied to VLSFO and LSMGO spread economics. For Top Ships, the long-tenor charter dampens the earnings cyclicality typical of MR spot exposure, while the 2029 delivery window insulates the company from the front end of a newbuilding ordering cycle that has pushed yard slot availability into 2027 and 2028.

How does the deal reshape the order book?

The transaction adds three MR slots to Top Ships' controlled order book without exposing the company directly to shipyard counterparty risk on the construction phase — that risk sits inside the SPVs it now owns. Once delivered, the vessels will form part of a fleet already commercially oriented around long-term oil-major employment.

For charterers, brokers and product traders, the addition of scrubber-fitted MR tonnage under multi-year coverage is incrementally positive for compliant capacity on Atlantic and intra-Asia product corridors from 2029. Charterers outside the oil-major segment typically face longer waitlists for the same specification as yard capacity tightens.

What to watch next

Investors and lenders will look for a separate filing detailing the consideration paid for the SPVs, the financing source — debt, equity, or a combination — and the legal route through which Top Ships handled the related-party aspect of the SPA. The charterer's identity, undisclosed in the closing announcement, may surface through fixture intelligence well before the 2029 delivery window opens.

With orderbook visibility extending into the second half of the decade and oil-major demand for compliant MR tonnage running ahead of supply, the closing positions Top Ships to absorb its three hulls into an employment structure built to absorb the kind of earnings volatility that has periodically unsettled the product tanker market through the next downturn.