Diana Extends Capesize Charter Deal

Greek dry bulk shipowner Diana Shipping has agreed to extend the present time charter contract with Geneva-based SwissMarine Services for one of its Capesize dry bulk vessels, the M/V Houston.

Expected to start on February 17, 2017, the charter will be extended to a period of about thirteen to fifteen months.

The gross charter rate is USD 5,150 per day for the first fifteen days of the charter period and USD 10,000 per day for the balance period of the time charter.

According to Diana, the employment extension of Houston is anticipated to generate approximately USD 3.68 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charter.

The 177,729 dwt Houston was built by China’s Jiangnan Shanghai Changxing Heavy Industry in 2009.

Market value of the bulker currently stands at USD 16.49 million, VesselsValue’s data shows.

The extension of the charter comes a few days after Diana released financial results for 2016. The company delivered a much wider year-on-year loss amounting to USD 164.2 million, compared to a net loss of USD 64.7 million seen in 2015.

Diana’s fleet currently consists of 48 dry bulk vessels with a combined carrying capacity of around 5.7 million dwt and a weighted average age of 7.71 years.