Belships has added four vessels to its fleet after securing a variety of purchase and charter deals today.
The Oslo-listed bulker owner has bought two ships and chartered in a brace of newbuildings, it told investors on Wednesday.
Lars Christian Skarsgard, CEO of Belships, said: “These acquisitions add to a pipeline of growth, increasing our company’s fleet and earnings potential by a third over the next few years.
“Access to the highest-quality vessels and shipyards combined with financing is our competitive advantage, and we firmly believe this will continue to create value for our company and shareholders.”
Belships has several ultramaxes on long-term leases with purchase options attached. However, today marks the first time it has opted to pull the trigger and buy a bareboated bulker.
It has exercised its option to purchase the 64,000-dwt Belmar (built 2021) from its owner, named in shipping databases as Almirante Shipping of Japan, for $25.5m in cash.
Belships has leased the vessel since its delivery from Japan’s Imabari Shipbuilding and will become its owner during the final quarter of this year.
The company has also bought an unnamed Japanese-built, 64,000-dwt ultramax built in 2024 from an unnamed “unrelated party” for $41m.
The unidentified ship will deliver to Belships during the first three months of next year.
Belships said it will fund the purchase via existing debt, which implies financing for 60% of the purchase price. The rest will be financed from available cash.
The company had $120.2m in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet as of 30 March this year.
Belships has leased in a further two ultramax newbuildings.
The pair will deliver in 2027 and 2028 from an unnamed Japanese shipyard.
Belships does not need to make any down payments for the two vessels, which will bring its newbuilding programme to 12 ultramaxes. The ships are being built in Japan for delivery between now and 2028.
All 12 vessels have been fully financed through lease agreements for seven to 10 years with purchase options.
Belships is not using any equity in connection with the newbuildings, meaning they will not impact its dividend capacity during the construction period.
Once the ships are all delivered, the Belships fleet will consist of 41 ultramaxes with an average year of build of 2021.
In May, the shipowner sold the 57,700-dwt Belfriend and Beltide (both built 2016) for $28.3m each.
The debt-free vessels will generate $56.6m in cash for Belships when they deliver to their new owner in the third quarter.
