Connecticut-based bulk carrier owner and operator Eagle Bulk Shipping is continuing with its fleet restructuring program as it sold another Supramax vessel.
The company said it recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to dispose of Thrasher, the 53,400 dwt vessel built in 2010.
The agreement was inked with Indonesia-based Meratus Line at the end of April 2019, VesselsValue’s data shows.
The ship was sold for gross proceeds of USD 10 million, Eagle Bulk revealed.
The transaction follows two Supramax sales in January this year when the company sold the 2001-built vessels Condor and Merlin for USD 12.8 million.
Also in January, Eagle Bulk acquired Cape Town Eagle, an Ultramax bulker, for USD 20.4 million. The 2015-built ship has been delivered into the company’s fleet.
The sale of Thrasher was unveiled in Eagle Bulk’s financial report for the first quarter of this year showing that the company delivered a net income of USD 29.5 million, a decrease of 44 percent compared to USD 52.7 million seen in the corresponding period a year earlier.
During the first quarter of 2019, the company generated revenues of USD 77.4 million, representing a drop of 2 percent compared to the same three-month period in 2018. The decrease was primarily due to the decline in the dry bulk market.
Time charter equivalent (TCE) revenue stood at USD 44 million in Q1 2019, lower by 14 percent year over year.
“Notwithstanding weakness in freight markets during the first quarter, we were able to achieve our highest TCE outperformance to date. I am pleased to report that our first quarter TCE outperformance, relative to the adjusted benchmark Baltic Supramax Index equated to almost $2,400 per vessel per day, representing a beat of over 30%,” Gary Vogel, Eagle Bulk’s CEO, commented.
“With respect to our fleet, preparations for IMO 2020 are well underway. To date we have fitted five vessels with scrubbers , with the majority of the installation time occurring at sea while ships continue to trade.”
“We expect to have thirty-four scrubbers installed within 2019, and three additional units in 2020,” he concluded.