Norwegian owner Belships has fixed three of its ultramaxes on period charters of around one year.
The bulk carriers, which were not named, have been contracted for 11 to 13 months at gross daily rates of $22,500, $24,700 and $25,000 per vessel.
The new charters, expected to begin in December, bring its contract coverage for 2022 up to 42% at an average net daily rate of $22,900 per vessel.
The company said this means its cash breakeven for its remaining open days next year "is close to zero".
Belships' fleet of 30 supramax and ultramax bulkers have an average cash breakeven of about $10,500 per day.
But the new contracts have been fixed at rates slightly lower than other period charters that it has fixed in recent months, reflecting the softening supramax spot market.
Prior to announcing the three new charters, Belships had forward coverage for the next four quarters fixed at around $25,500 net per day on average.
Forward freight agreements for calendar year 2022 settled on Friday at $19,617 per day.
Average supramax rates hit an 11-year high of $39,860 per day on 21 October, but have since fallen by almost 40%, according to Baltic Exchange assessments.
This quarter, Belships has around 77% of its available vessel days booked at about $29,000 per day net.
Earlier this month, chief executive Lars Christian Skarsgard told TradeWinds: "Contract coverage for next quarter is almost done, so it looks like strong results for Belships can continue, including dividends."
The company made net profit of $35.2m during the third quarter as freight markets for supramaxes and ultramaxes hit the highest levels since 2008.
This enabled the owner to distribute NOK 0.55 ($0.06) per share to shareholders, its second consecutive quarterly payment.
The net result is a significant increase compared with the loss of $4.2m in the same period last year.
The company said on Monday: "Based on current market expectations, we expect to generate significant free cash flow and aim to pay quarterly dividends as announced with our dividend policy."
