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Top Ships Inc, the owner of fuel-efficient, medium-range (MR) 'Eco' tanker vessels for the transportation of petroleum products and bulk liquid chemicals, has agreed a time charter deal for its product/chemical tanker Eco Palm Desert.

The 50,000-deadweight-tonne (dwt) vessel, which is currently under construction and scheduled to be delivered by Hyundai in the third quarter of 2018, has been secured by Central Ship Chartering Inc for a period of three years. The charterer also has the option to extend the period by another two years.

Top Ships expects a total gross revenue backlog associated with this time charter of up to $27.5 million, including the optional periods.

Fleet

Greece-based Top Ships owns a young fleet of seven fuel-efficient 'Eco' tanker vessels, with an additional three newbuilds (Eco Palm Desert, Eco Holmby Hills and Eco Palm Springs) slated for completion in 2018. The oldest ship in the fleet is the 2014-built Stenaweco Energy.

The seven ships currently in operation have been chartered out to BP (Eco Fleet and Eco Revolution), Stena Weco (Stenaweco Energy, Stenaweco Evolution, Stenaweco Excellence and Stenaweco Elegance) and Norden (Nord Valiant).

The other two ships under construction (the Eco Holmby Hills and Eco Palm Springs) have already been secured by Clearlake Shipping.

Loan

Top Ships also announced on Thursday that it has entered into a $23.5 million bank loan facility with an unnamed European bank for the financing of the Eco Palm Desert.

Following the signing of the loan, the remaining contractual commitments for the acquisition of the company's fleet, net of expected debt drawdowns, are said to have been reduced to $32.1 million, pursuant to newbuilding agreements for the Eco Palm Desert, Eco Holmby Hills and Eco Palm Springs.