Tsakos Energy Navigation Announces: Period Charters for Two Existing Suezmax Tankers and Initiation of Another Long Term Strategic Partnership With an Oil Major for LR1 Tankers

ATHENS, GREECE--(Marketwired - Aug 14, 2014) - Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited (TEN or the Company) (NYSE: TNP) announced today the chartering of two of its modern Suezmax tankers with a European oil major for 24 and 12 months respectively with charterers options for another 12 months for each vessel at an accretive base rate with profit sharing. TEN expects minimum gross revenues of approximately $35 million for the full period. 

In addition, TEN announces today the commencement of a new partnership with another oil major for the construction and chartering of two LR1 tankers for five years. The option to declare two additional LR1 vessels expires at the end of October 2014.

The vessels will be employed under five year charters at an accretive base rate with 50/50 profit sharing above the base rate between TEN and the oil major. The charters are expected to generate minimum gross revenues of $62 million for the two vessels during the five year period.

The two vessels will be financed with equity from the Company's strong cash reserves and bank debt. Delivery is expected during the second half of 2016. 

"We are pleased to follow up on our recent announcement with another strategic alliance with one of the largest major oil companies in the world. We continue growing and modernizing our fleet with non speculative orders. At the same time our existing fleet is utilized to maximize the company's profitability and shareholder value. We believe that the nature of these transactions is a testament of TEN's reputation as a company of choice for major oil companies. We expect the value created by these and other similar projects to be soon reflected in our valuation," Mr. Nikolas P. Tsakos, President and CEO of TEN commented.

ABOUT TSAKOS ENERGY NAVIGATION
To date, TEN's fleet, including the LNG carrier Maria Energy, nine Aframax crude oil tankers and two LR1 tankers all under construction, consists of 62 double-hull vessels, a mix of crude tankers, product tankers and LNG carriers, totaling 6.4 million dwt. Of these, 32 are crude carriers ranging from VLCCs to Aframaxes, 28 are coated tankers ranging from DP2 shuttle suezmaxes to handysize, 16 of which, including the shuttle takers, are currently carrying crude cargoes, and two are LNG carriers. The average age of the operational fleet is 7.2 years.

The Company's newbuilding program consists of:

ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted by such forward-looking statements. TEN undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.