Top Ships secures $207m financing for tanker quartet with Chinese financier

Greece’s tanker shipowner Top Ships Inc.has entered into four sale and leaseback financing agreements for the refinancing of ships with a major Chinese financier.

In a securities and exchange commission filing, the New York-listed Top Ships together with its subsidiaries announced the refinancing of two 300,000-dwt VLCC tankers, the Julius Caesar and Legio X Equestris (expected to be concluded in October 2025), one 157,000-dwt suezmax tanker, the Eco Oceano CA (expected to be concluded in November 2025), and one 50,000-dwt MR product tanker, the Eco Marina Del Ray (expected to be concluded in November 2025).

The shipowner said the closing of these financing agreements is subject to conditions set forth in the relevant agreements.

The total proceeds from the VLCC/ Suez financing agreements and the MR financing agreement will amount to $207m, an estimated approximately $179.8m of which will be used to repay the four vessels’ existing financing facilities and the remaining balance will be used for general working capital purposes, Top Ships said in a SEC filing on August 19.

The VLCC/Suez financing deals have durations of ten years and provide