Diana Shipping has announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Glencore Agriculture B.V. for one of its Kamsarmax dry bulk vessels: the m/v Astarte. The gross charter rate is US$9000 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum 14 months to maximum 17 months. The charter is expected to commence on 12 June 2017.
The Astarte is a 81 513 DWT Kamsarmax dry bulk vessel built in 2013.
The Company also announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Phaethon International Company AG, for one of its Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Erato. The gross charter rate is US$7250 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of about five months up to December 2017.
The Erato is a 74 444 DWT Panamax dry bulk vessel built in 2004.
The employments of Astarte and Erato are anticipated to generate approximately US$4.76 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charters.
Diana Shipping’s fleet currently consists of 50 dry bulk vessels (4 Newcastlemax, 14 Capesize, 4 Post-Panamax, 5 Kamsarmax and 23 Panamax). The company also expects to take delivery of one Post-Panamax dry bulk vessel by the end of May 2017. The combined carrying capacity of the fleet, excluding the one vessel not yet delivered, is approximately 5.8 million DWT with a weighted average age of 7.87 years.