Diana Shipping’s 2nd Vessel Sale Falls Through

Dry bulk vessel owner Diana Shipping received a cancellation notice for the sale of its 2002-built Capesize vessel Norfolk, the company said.

Diana said the buyers decided to cancel the contract due to unforeseen events, unrelated to the condition of the vessel, and have requested the refund of the deposit of the purchase price.

The company has taken steps to release the deposit to the buyers.

The sale of the 2002-built Norfolk was supposed to fetch USD 9.35 million.

The 183,468 cbm vessel, previously known as Thalassini Kyra, was slated to be delivered to an undisclosed buyer by February 25, 2020.

The announcement comes just days after Diana said its sale of the 2005-built Panamax vessel Calipso went awry as well.

The 73,700 dwt bulker was supposed to be sold for USD 7.275 million.

Both sales were announced back in December 2019.

Separately, the company entered into a time charter contract with Koch Shipping Pte. Ltd., Singapore, for one of its Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Coronis.

The gross charter rate is USD 8,000 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of about nine to ten months. The charter commenced earlier today.

The 74,381 dwt Panamax, built in 2006, was previously chartered to Tongli Shipping, at a gross charter rate of USD 5,300 per day.

“This employment is anticipated to generate approximately USD 2.04 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charter,” Diana added.

Diana Shipping’s fleet currently consists of 42 dry bulk vessels, comprising 4 Newcastlemax, 14 Capesize, 5 Post-Panamax, 5 Kamsarmax and 14 Panamax ships. The combined carrying capacity of the fleet is approximately 5.2 million dwt with a weighted average age of 9.68 years.