Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, Tuesday (Dec07) announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Koch Shipping Pte. Ltd., Singapore, for one of its Newcastlemax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Newport News.
The gross charter rate is US$28,000 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period until minimum July 1, 2023 up to maximum September 30, 2023. The new charter period is expected to commence on December 16, 2021.
The m/v Newport News is currently chartered, as previously announced, at a gross charter rate of US$18,400 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties.
The “Newport News” is a 208,021 dwt Newcastlemax dry bulk vessel built in 2017.
The employment of “Newport News” is anticipated to generate approximately US$15.57 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charter.
Diana Shipping Inc.’s fleet currently consists of 33 dry bulk vessels (4 Newcastlemax, 11 Capesize, 5 Post-Panamax, 5 Kamsarmax and 8 Panamax). The Company also expects to take delivery of one Kamsarmax dry bulk vessel and one new-building Capesize dry bulk vessel by the end of February 2022 and by the end of the first quarter of 2022, respectively. As of today, the combined carrying capacity of the Company’s fleet, excluding the two vessels not yet delivered, is approximately 4.3 million dwt with a weighted average age of 10.28 years.