Scorpio Tankers is moving forward with the repurchase and refinancing of tankers currently burdened by deals made in the difficult years before the current boom.

The New York-listed tanker carrier has secured a new USD 1bn loan, which is expected to be used to finance 45 product tankers ”which are currently unencumbered, or financed through credit facilities and financial leases which carry higher margins and will be repaid.”

At the same time, Scorpio Tankers can utilize a so-called accordion feature to expand the loan by USD 200m at the same terms within the next two years.

In the last few months, the company has bought back a large number of tankers, mainly from Chinese leasing companies.

The ships were sold off a few years ago and chartered back, a maneuver that put money in the coffers of the squeezed shipping companies at a time when the tanker market was low and carriers in need of cash.

Today, the tanker market is in the midst of a historic boom, largely due to new trading patterns in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions it has triggered.

Oil products now have to be transported over longer distances, and this has caused tanker companies’ earnings to skyrocket.