Safe Bulkers, Inc. (the Company) (NYSE: SB), an international provider of marine drybulk transportation services, announced today that it has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of a Japanese, 82,000 dwt, dry-bulk, Kamsarmax class vessel, with a scheduled delivery date within the fourth quarter of 2026.
The newbuild vessel is designed to meet the Phase 3 requirements of Energy Efficiency Design Index related to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (“IMO GHG -EEDI Phase 3”) as adopted by the International Maritime Organization, (“IMO”) and also comply with the latest NOx emissions regulation, NOx-Tier III (“NOx-Tier III”). This newbuild vessel is a sister vessel to a number of newbuilds in our orderbook with advanced energy efficiency characteristics resulting to lower fuel consumption.
The Company has already taken delivery of nine IMO GHG Phase 3 – NOx Tier III vessels. Including this agreement, the Company has an outstanding orderbook of eight newbuild vessels, two of which are methanol dual fuel, with scheduled deliveries one in 2024, two in 2025, four in 2026, and one in 2027.
Dr. Loukas Barmparis, President of the Company commented: “This latest newbuild order with relatively prompt delivery compared to present slot availability, is part of our fleet renewal strategy and reflects our plans to own one of the most environmentally efficient dry bulk fleets in the market.”