Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. has announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to purchase a minimum of 6 and up to 9 Crown-63 Ultramax dry bulk sister vessels for an aggregate price of US$153 million, assuming all 9 ships are transacted.
The vessels, which range in age from 2 - 5 years, will be acquired from Greenship Bulk Trust, a company registered on the Norwegian OTC list. The agreement includes the outright acquisition of 6 vessels, with an additional 3 vessels contingent upon final approval from Greenship's unit holders.
Deliveries are anticipated to commence in April 2017.
Gary Vogel, Eagle Bulk's CEO, commented: "Eagle Bulk continues to execute on our fleet renewal and growth strategy, and today's announced acquisition affirms our ability to transact in a meaningful way. We are especially pleased that we were able to reach an agreement to purchase 6, and potentially 9, sister ships en bloc in a market where quality tonnage is difficult to find. We view this as a milestone transaction, as it can increase our number of vessels by over 20% while meaningfully advancing the build-out of our owner-operator business model."
Assuming the successful delivery of all 9 vessels, the Eagle Bulk fleet will consist of 50 owned vessels.