Greek tanker owner Performance Shipping, led-by chairperson of its board Aliki Paliou, has entered into time charter agreements with Repsol Trading S.A. for its two 158,000-dwt suezmax tanker newbuildings under construction in China, by China Shipbuilding Trading and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding.

Under the agreements, the first vessel has been chartered for a period of seven years (±30 days) at a daily hire rate of US$35,000, while the second vessel has been chartered for a period of five years (±30 days) at a daily hire rate of US$36,850, payable monthly in advance.

The vessels are expected to be delivered from the shipyard to the company in October 2028 and May 2029 and will start their respective charters with Repsol upon their delivery.

In March, the company announced the signing of two shipbuilding contracts with China Shipbuilding Trading Co. Ltd. (CSTC) and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. (SWS) for the construction of two 158,000-dwt newbuilding suezmax tanker vessels.

The contract price per vessel is $81.5m.

15% of the purchase price is payable upon receipt of a refund guarantee; 10% of the purchase price is payable at each of the milestones of steel cutting, keel laying, and launching of the vessels; and the remaining 55% of the purchase price is payable upon the delivery of the vessels.

Andreas Michalopoulos, Performance Shipping chief executive officer, stated: “Following the entry into our suezmax tanker newbuilding contracts in early March, we are pleased to announce that we have now secured long-term employment for both vessels well in advance of their delivery. These agreements mark a further expansion of our relationship with Repsol Trading S.A., a major global energy company.

“The modern, fuel-efficient, and environmentally friendly specifications of these scrubber-fitted vessels contributed to securing long-term employment on attractive terms, reflecting both the positive fundamentals of the suezmax market and confidence in our operational capabilities.

“Revenues secured from these charters will cover the majority of the vessels’ acquisition cost and add significant earnings visibility, increasing the company’s total fleetwide contracted revenue to approximately US$471 million from US$317 million, based on the minimum duration of each charter and as of the beginning of April 2026.

“Our average contract duration is now 2.8 years and our contracted days are 89.5%, 76.9%, 68.6%, 56.4% and 46.8% for 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030, respectively, thereby reducing the charter rate required to breakeven on our open days.

“Effectively all our modern vessels are now operating under long-term fixed charter rate contracts. This is coupled with our remaining vessels operating under shorter-term charters, two of which are scheduled for renewal this year in an extremely tight market for prompt tanker vessel capacity.”