Norway’s Belships has sealed a deal to sell its 2015-built ultramax bulker to an unnamed buyer while chartering out another at an index-linked rate, says an article published on Splash.
Price tag
No price tag has been revealed for the Japanese-built 60,600 dwt Belvedere, the Oslo-listed shipowner acquired about a year ago, except that it was slightly above the book value.
The sale of the former Bulk Draco should bring in about $10m to Belships after repayment of outstanding loan.
Accretive transactions
“The investment has yielded a return on equity of about 20%, displaying our ability to source accretive transactions with efficient use of capital,” said Lars Christian Skarsgård, CEO of Belships.
The company has also chartered out the 2016-built Belisland for a period of about one year with a rate equal to 115% of the Baltic Supramax Index and has the option to convert any part of the firm period to a fixed rate.
Expect improved market
“The current freight market is relatively low, and we have therefore chartered out one of our vessels on a variable rate structure as we expect improved market conditions during the contract period. We are comfortably positioned with significant fixed-rate contract coverage for the fleet in the meantime,” added Skarsgård.
Belships’ fleet stands at 34 modern supramax and ultramax bulk carriers, including four newbuilds to deliver between 2024 and 2026.
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Source: Splash
