Seanergy Marine has confirmed charters for two of its capesize bulkers with fellow US-listed shipowner Costamare.
Costamare Bulkers has taken the 181,392-dwt Iconship (built 2013) for 22 months at a rate described as “at a premium” over the Baltic Capesize Index.
The Konstantinos Konstantakopoulos-led shipowner has also fixed Seanergy’s scrubber-fitted 178,838-dwt Lordship (built 2010) for 22 months.
The charter, which is expected to start at the end of July, will see the vessel earn a daily hire based on the five time-charter routes of the BCI.
Seanergy said it will also “receive the majority of the benefit” from the scrubber profit-sharing scheme based on the price difference between high-sulfur and low-sulfur fuel.
For both charters, Seanergy said it has the option to convert the daily hire from index-linked to fixed for a minimum period of two months to a maximum of 12 months. This conversion will be based on the prevailing capesize forward freight agreement curve.
Seanergy chief executive Stamatis Tsantanis said he was “very pleased” with the initiation of its commercial relationship with a “quality operator” like Costamare.
“Our fleet is 100% under period employment, with index-linked time charters, while the embedded option to convert the floating rates to fixed will further support our hedging strategy, which has allowed us to outperform the market on several occasions over the recent years,” he said.
“We are advancing our position as a leading pure-play capesize shipowner and we maintain our long-term conviction that a strategic focus on capesize vessels will deliver sustained strong returns.
“This is because of their current earnings power and the long-term market fundamentals, which are supported by the limited newbuilding orderbook and, what seems to be, sustained demand for major raw materials.”
Earlier this week, TradeWinds reported that Seanergy had agreed to a sale and leaseback deal with China’s AVIC International Leasing for the Iconship, including taking the ship back on a five-year bareboat charter.
Seanergy’s fleet consists of 18 vessels comprised of one newcastlemax and 17 capesize bulkers, with an average age of around 13.2 years and an aggregate cargo carrying capacity of about 3.26m dwt.
The fleet is set to expand by one further capesize in the second half of this year, following the acquisition of a 2012-built unit for $35.6m, which was confirmed in March 2024.
