Castor Maritime has wasted no time in finding work for a panamax bulker it bought from Diana Shipping at the end of June.
The Cypriot shipowner said Germany's Oldendorff Carriers has taken the 73,593-dwt Arethusa (built 2007) for three to five months at $10,300 per day in rising dry markets.
Nasdaq-listed Castor expects to take delivery of the bulker in August. It paid $7.85m for the ship.
Revenue is expected to rise by about $900,000 over the minimum period of the contract.
It could reach $1.6m should Oldendorff keep the ship for five months.
The German giant is a previous client of Castor, which has three other panamaxes.
More deals on the cards
"We are pleased to have been able to take advantage of the recent dry bulk market charter rate improvement by securing an attractive time charter contract for our recent acquisition," Castor chief executive and chief financial officer Petros Panagiotidis said.
"We believe that the recent vessel acquisition and the prompt securing of the time charter has further demonstrated our ability to act quickly and decisively in taking advantage of market opportunities presented to us."
Panagiotidis said the company is determined to keep taking capitalising on chances to grow the fleet profitably.
Castor has been bolstered by a share sale worth $20.7m in June, after which it promised to use some of the money on vessel purchases.
The company made a nearly $260,000 loss in the first quarter, versus a $56,000 profit during the same period last year.
Panamaxes gaining momentum
Panamax spot rates have been improving in recent weeks, with time charter equivalent earnings in the 82,000-dwt range up 20.6% since 1 July to $13,700 per day this week.
"The panamax segment remains firm with steady grains volume in South America and the Black Sea", Clarksons Platou Securites said.
Unnamed Chinese charterers have booked the 76,620-dwt Panamax Nostos (built 2005), owned by Shield Marine, to South America's east coast to the Far East at $11,750 per day.
The rise in spot levels came as period charters also showed strength.
Diana Shipping itself said on Wednesday that it had fixed the 75,700-dwt Selina (built 2010) to ST Shipping and Transport of Singapore at $11,000 per day for at least 12 months, and possibly up to 14 months.
