Safe Bulkers, ING Bank Change Loan Terms
Greece-based dry bulk shipowner Safe Bulkers, Inc. has agreed with ING Bank N.V. to amend certain terms of an existing committed revolving credit facility of up to USD 32 million for its newbuilds.
The loan, which has a five-year duration period, is secured by two newbuild vessels.
Following this amendment, Safe Bulkers said that its the total consolidated liabilities divided by its total consolidated assets charter inclusive “must not exceed 90% until and including year-end 2017 and 85% from 2018 onwards.”
While other financial covenants state that the ratio of the company’s EBITDA to its interest expense must be not less than 2.0:1 on a trailing 12 month basis, applicable from 2018 onwards.
Furthermore, under the amendment the consolidated net worth of Safe Bulkers, defined as total consolidated assets charter inclusive less total consolidated liabilities is waived until and including year-end 2017 subject to a minimum fleet size of 30 vessels and not less than USD 150 million from 2018 onwards.
The company added that the covenants include the aggregate market value of the vessels under the facility, which, divided by the aggregate outstanding loan value, must exceed 110% until year end 2017 and 120% from 2018 onwards.
“This is the second agreement we announce targeting to align financial covenants amongst our banks and increase our financial flexibility for the coming years,” Loukas Barmparis, President of the company, said.
In March, Safe Bulkers agreed with Unicredit to amend an existing loan secured by four vessels with an outstanding balance of USD 51.8 million, delaying the balloon payment initially scheduled to be made in 2019 for 2022.
