Nordic Business Report-January 18, 2007-Ship Finance International Limited to sell five vessels to Frontline Ltd (C)1994-2007 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com Norwegian-controlled Bermuda-based tanker owning company Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE: SFL) said on Thursday (18 January) that it has agreed to sell five vessels to the Norwegian tanker shipping company Frontline Ltd in connection with Frontlines proposed spin-off of Sealift Ltd, a dedicated heavy-lift company. The vessels are the single hull suezmax tankers Front Comor, Front Granite, Front Target and Front Traveller, in addition to Front Sunda, which is currently being converted to a heavy-lift vessel. Delivery to Frontline is expected to take place during the first quarter of 2007. The gross sales price for the five vessels is USD183.7m, and Ship Finance will receive a net amount of approximately USD121m after compensation of approximately USD62m to Frontline for the termination of the charters. Following these sales Ship Finance will only have 11 single-hull vessels remaining in the fleet, including three vessels with double sides. Including newbuildings and recently announced acquisitions and sales, the companys fleet will consist of 55 vessels, essentially all on medium- to long-term charters. Frontline Ltd is a Bermuda-based tanker company. Its fleet consists of 36 Suezmax tankers and 46 VLCC tankers, totalling 19.3 million dead weight tons. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FRO. Ship Finance International is registered in Bermuda, but has an office in Oslo, Norway. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. One British pound (GBP) is worth approximately 1.97 US dollars (USD). ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected]))