Euroseas Ltd., an owner and operator of drybulk carriers and container vessels, has signed a contract for the acquisition of two Eco design kamsarmax fuel efficient drybulk carriers.
The vessels will have a carrying capacity of 82,000 dwt each and will be built at Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Co. The two newbuildings are scheduled to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2015 and in the fourth quarter of 2016. The total consideration for these two newbuilding contracts is a bit below $60 million.
Furthermore, the company announced that its joint venture, Euromar LLC (Euromar), has purchased the M/V Akinada Bridge, a gearless containership of 5,600 teu and 71,366mt dwt built in 2001 in South Korea. The vessel comes with an above market time charter attached to one of the biggest Japanese charterers and is expected to improve the company’s cash flow significantly for the next 2.5 years of its duration.
Aristides Pittas, Chairman and CEO of Euroseas commented: “With this order, we have increased our newbuilding orderbook to 4 vessels , which brings our total fleet to 19 vessels and improves our fleet profile significantly. We believe we are at the start of a strong year for the drybulk market and are positioning Euroseas to take advantage of an improving market.”
“We also announce that our Joint venture has concluded the purchase and has already taken delivery of M/V Akinada Bridge. With containership prices close to their all time lows and secured income for the vessel for the next 2.5 years this investment has little if no downside and can prove very profitable in a recovering market. Euromar is well capitalized and with its 11-vessel strong fleet ready to take advantage of a recovery in the Container market which is bound to occur sooner or later.”
[mappress]
Euroseas, April 2, 2014