In an interview with TradeWinds the Singaporean owner’s chief executive, Pankaj Khanna, said his company intends to fund the newbuilding programme with syndicated loans.

If all goes according to plan Khanna noted the campaign should conclude in the fourth-quarter and pointed out that the terms of freshly-minted bank debt will likely mirror those of facilities secured earlier this year.

Last week Pioneer said it landed a $72m loan backed by DVB and ABN AMRO in June.