Greek boxship owner Danaos Corp saw shares jump nearly 20% on trading Tuesday morning in New York after the company's chief executive said he has no plans to sell shares.
The jump by John Coustas-led Danaos led an early rise by shipping shares as the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 1,000 points. The 6% jump continued a spate of wild volatility accompanying the coronavirus pandemic.
Analysts attributed the broader rise to hopes that the US Congress was finally nearing agreement to pump nearly $2trn of aid into the ravaged domestic economy, and on President Donald Trump's suggestions Monday that draconian anti-virus measures would be short-term to prevent further economic damage.
For Danaos, the rise came after Coustas explained a filing last week in which company insiders filed with the SEC to potentially sell up to 45% of their shareholding. Danaos lost more than 35% of it share value last week.
"The Coustas family does not intend to sell a single share of the company," he said. "This was strictly a housekeeping exercise to register the shares, resulting from last year's equity offering. It is unfortunate that it coincided with the dramatic events unfolding in stock markets."
There was no statement concerning Greek shipowner and Danaos director George Economou, who filed to sell 800,000 more shares than he had purchased in the offering last November.
Danaos was not the only double-digit gainer on a green screen of shipowners, with Herbjorn Hansson's suezmax specialist Nordic American Tankers rising nearly 16% and Tsakos Energy Navigation some 18%.
Diana Shipping led dry bulk owners with a 10% gain.
The so-called Big Three cruise lines roared out of the blocks, with Norwegian Cruise Line up 29%, Royal Carbbean up 22% and Carnival Corp 20%.
