Greece’s Globus Maritime is in talks with banks over expansion to upgrade its fleet.

The company has a $37.5m fuel-efficient ultramax of 64,000 dwt on order at Japan’s Nihon Shipyard for delivery in the first half of 2024, plus two vessels of the same size due in the second half of next year from Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering in China at $70.3m.

The Nasdaq-listed bulker owner said in its first-quarter report: “At present, we are working with various financial institutions on exploring financing and refinancing transactions with better terms and conditions in order to expand and modernise our fleet.

“We are always keen on accretive deals that would allow us not only to modernise our fleet and make it more efficient but also to maximise value for our shareholders.”

Globus has nine ships operational: four kamsarmaxes, four supramaxes and a panamax.

Net profit in the first three months dropped to $2.6m, against $12.1m in the same period of 2022.

Revenue was lower at $8.6m, compared with $18.4m.

Time charter equivalent earnings plunged to $8,780 per day from $23,643 a year earlier.

“The market was generally weak during the first quarter of 2023 with some improvement in the beginning of the second quarter,” Globus said.

The company has since seen a further weakening, but is maintaining a positive view on the sector’s prospects in the medium and longer term: “We believe that positions in the industry should be taken with a long-term view.”

This belief comes from the supply side of the dry bulk industry, with the orderbook at historically low levels.

Coupled with new environmental regulations on emissions and fuel consumption, this could constrain vessel supply further, Globus said.