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Long-term Debt
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2024
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
Long-term Debt
9. Long-term Debt
 
    
Term Loans
     
 
  
Issue Date/ Refinancing Date
          
Maturity Date
     
Drawn

Amount
     
December 31,

2023
     
December 31,

2024
  
March 2023
        
January 2032
        70,000,000        —         66,719,215  
May 2016
        
December 2025
        65,650,000        21,234,160        19,161,840  
March 2017
        
April 2026
        70,787,500        42,343,739        —   
August 2021
        
August 2026
        60,000,000        29,260,092        —   
December 2021
        
January 2028
        59,400,000        31,279,000      — 
           
 
 
     
 
 
  
Total
 
   
 
124,116,991
 
   
 
85,881,055
 
           
 
 
     
 
 
  
Current portion of long-term debt
 
      16,863,076        23,537,305  
Long-term debt
 
      107,253,915        62,343,750  
           
 
 
     
 
 
  
Total debt
 
   
 
124,116,991
 
   
 
85,881,055
 
           
 
 
     
 
 
  
Current portion of deferred finance charges
 
      238,603        203,491  
Deferred finance charges non-current
 
      335,740        787,895  
           
 
 
     
 
 
  
Total deferred finance charges
 
   
 
574,343
 
   
 
991,386
 
           
 
 
     
 
 
  
Total debt
 
      124,116,991        85,881,055  
Less: Total deferred finance charges
 
      574,343        991,386  
           
 
 
     
 
 
  
Total debt, net of deferred finance charges
 
   
 
123,542,648
 
   
 
84,889,669
 
           
 
 
     
 
 
  
Less: Current portion of long-term debt, net of current portion of deferred finance charges
 
      16,624,473        23,333,814  
           
 
 
     
 
 
  
Long-term debt
 
   
 
106,918,176
 
   
 
61,555,855
 
           
 
 
     
 
 
  
 
Changes in the Company’s outstanding term loans as of December 31, 2023 and 2024 are as follows:
For the year 2023:
In February 2023, the Company prepaid $5.9 million of the term loan dated August 2021 with original maturity date August 2026 using cash on hand and the related mortgages on the vessels Gas Astrid and Gas Exelero were released.
In March 2023 and in June 2023, the Company prepaid a total of $29.7 million of a term loan dated January 2021 with original maturity date January 2028 using cash on hand and the related mortgages on the vessels Eco Corsair, Eco Royalty, Eco Czar, Eco Nemesis and Eco Elysium were released. Following this loan repayment, the related interest rate swap agreements were terminated and an amount of $2.0 million was collected from the respective counterparty.
In March 2023, the Company entered into a loan agreement of $70,000,000 with a bank in order to finance the acquisition of the vessels Eco Oracle and the Eco Wizard that were acquired from affiliated entities in January 2024 (Note 3). The term loan was fully drawn down in two equal tranches, the first of which was drawn down on January 9, 2024, and the second one was drawn down on January 31, 2024. The term loan is repayable in thirty two quarterly installments plus a balloon payment payable together with the last instalment for each vessel in January 2032.
In May 2023, the Company prepaid $29.9 million of a term loan dated April 2020 with original maturity date February 2027 using cash on hand and the related mortgages on the vessels Eco Alice and Eco Blizzard were released.
In May 2023, the Company prepaid $19.2 million of a term loan dated December 2021 with original maturity date January 2028 using cash on hand and the related mortgages on the vessels Eco Enigma and Eco Texiana were released.
In June 2023, the Company prepaid $18.2 million of a term loan dated January 2021 with original maturity date January 2026 using cash on hand and the related mortgages on the vessels Eco Steam, Eco Chios and Eco Galaxy were released. Following this loan repayment, the related interest rate swap agreement was terminated and an amount of $1.2 million was collected from the respective counterparty.
In June 2023, the Company prepaid $20.3 million of a term loan dated May 2016 with original maturity date December 2025 using cash on hand and the related mortgage on the vessel Eco Frost was released. Following this loan repayment, the related interest rate swap agreements were terminated and an amount of $0.7 million was collected from the respective counterparty.
In July 2023, the Company prepaid $8.7 million of the term loan dated August 2021 with original maturity date August 2026 using cash on hand and the related mortgage on the vessel Eco Dream was released.
Furthermore, during 2023 the Company made scheduled principal payments in connection with its term loans amounting to $23.0 million.
For the year 2024:
In February 2024, the Company prepaid
 in full the then outstanding balance of
$29.3 million of the term loan dated August 2021 with original maturity date August 2026 using cash on hand and the related mortgages on the vessels Gas Elixir, Eco Nical, Eco Dominator, Gas Myth and Gas Cerberus were released. Following this loan repayment, the related interest rate swap agreement was terminated and an amount of $1.0 million was collected from the respective counterparty.
 
In May 2024, the Company prepaid
in full the then outstanding balance of
 
$29.3 million of the term loan dated December 2021 with original maturity date January 2028 using cash on hand and the related mortgages on the vessels Gas Husky, Gas Esco, Eco Universe and Eco Invictus were released.
In May 2024, the Company prepaid $20.1 million of the term loan dated March 2017 with original maturity date April 2026 using cash on hand and the related mortgage on the vessel Eco Freeze was released.
In August 2024, the Company prepaid
in full the then outstanding balance of
 
$19.0 million of the term loan dated March 2017 with original maturity date April 2026 using cash on hand and the related mortgage on the vessel Eco Arctic was released.
Furthermore, during 2024 the Company made scheduled principal payments in connection with its term loans amounting to $10.5 million.
The above loans are generally repayable in quarterly or semi-annual installments and a balloon payment at maturity and are secured by first priority mortgages over the vessels involved, plus the assignment of the vessels’ insurances, earnings and operating and retention accounts with the lenders, and the guarantee of ship-owning companies, as owners of the vessels. The term loans contain financial covenants requiring the Company to ensure that:
 
  •  
the aggregate market value of the mortgaged vessels at all times exceeds a certain percentage of the amounts outstanding as defined in the term loans, ranging from 120% to 130%,
 
  •  
the leverage of the Company defined as Total Debt net of Cash should not exceed 80% of total market value adjusted assets,
 
  •  
the Interest Coverage Ratio of the Company which is EBITDA (as defined in the loan agreements) to interest expense to be at all times greater than 2.5:1,
 
  •  
at least a certain percentage of the Company is to always be owned by members of the Vafias family,
 
  •  
the Company should maintain on a monthly basis a minimum aggregate cash balance amounting to $3,867,752
as of December 31, 2024 
in the earnings accounts with the relevant banks as well as a free cash balance of $10,000,000 at the end of each quarter,
 
  •  
dividends paid by the borrower will not exceed 50% of the Company’s free cash flow in any rolling 12 month period.
The interest rates on the outstanding loans as of December 31, 2023 and 2024 are based on a SOFR plus a margin (2022: LIBOR plus a margin). The average interest rates (including the margin) on the above outstanding loans for the applicable periods were:
Year ended December 31, 2022: 4.20%
Year ended December 31, 2023: 7.07%
Year ended December 31, 2024: 7.52%
Bank loan interest expense for the above loans for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2023 and 2024 amounted to $11,446,312, $13,250,267 and $ 8,859,096, respectively.
Interest expense, net of interest capitalized, is included in interest and finance costs in the consolidated statements of income. For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2023 and 2024, the amortization of deferred financing charges amounted to $855,472, $1,345,940 and $711,378 respectively, and is included in interest and finance costs in the consolidated statements of income.
At December 31, 2024, the Company was in compliance with all of its debt financial covenants.
 
The annual principal payments to be made, for the abovementioned loans, after December 31, 2024, are as follows:
 
December 31,
   
Amount
  
2025
      23,537,305  
2026
      4,375,000  
2027
      4,375,000  
2028
      4,375,000  
Thereafter
      49,218,750  
  
 
 
  
Total
   
 
85,881,055