Bahri Acquires Vela's 'Altair Star' VLCC for $28.87 mln

Saudi Maritime Transport, also known as Bahri, acquired on Thursday Altair Star VLCC from Vela for SAR 108.3 million, about $28.87 million, the company said in a statement to Tadawul.

Bahri financed the new vessel, which has been renamed to Bahri Iris, through a Murabaha loan.

Last June, Bahri signed a SAR 3.18 billion Murabaha bridge-financing agreement with JP Morgan Chase Bank, Samba Financial Group, and Saudi British Bank to finance its fleet integration with Vela.

Remaining Vela vessels will be transferred to Bahri’s ownership before the end of this year, according to an agreement between both companies.

The fleet integration’s financial impact will be reported in fourth quarter results, Bahri said.

Bahri announced in July that the first phase of the integration process had already been completed, according to data available on Argaam.