zoomIllustration. Image Courtesy of Shaah Shahidh on Unsplash.

Greek product tanker company Pyxis Tankers said it had completed the refinancing of a previous loan facility for one of its vessels, Pyxis Epsilon.

After repayment of existing bank debt, the new five-year secured loan provided the company approximately USD 7.3 million of additional net proceeds for general corporate purposes.

“We welcome a new lender to our company. Blue Ocean Maritime funds managed by EnTrustPermal provided us USD 24 million of new debt. This loan facility offers us great flexibility through a cash sweep mechanism for principal amortization over the entire loan period,” Valentios Valentis, Pyxis Tankers’ Chairman and CEO, commented.

“Upon closing, our overall cost of funded debt increased to a weighted average interest rate of 7.8%, while approximately 56% of outstanding funded debt is covered under a long-term fixed interest rate or hedge component. Moreover, the required scheduled amortization has been reduced and there are no senior loan maturities until four years from now. Consolidated leverage continues to be comparable to our publicly-traded peers,” Valentis added.

Pyxis Tankers, which is focused on growing its fleet of medium range product tankers, owns six tankers engaged in seaborne transportation of refined petroleum products and other bulk liquids. The six tankers have a weighted average age of approximately 7.4 years as of August 2018 based on deadweight tonnage and aggregated 216,635 in carrying capacity (dwt).