LONDON (Bloomberg) — Ship Finance International Ltd., an oil-tanker operator that leases its vessels to other companies, bought three oil and gas exploration ships for $210 million.Ship Finance bought the so-called seismic vessels, which are still being built, from Scan Geophysical ASA, a Norwegian shipping company, for $70 million each, the Hamilton, Bermuda- based company said yesterday.

Once the ships have been delivered next year, Ship Finance will lease them back to Scan for 12 years at fixed hire rates starting at $26,500 a day and falling to $10,000 a day by the end of the period.