John Coustas-led Danaos Corp — a US-listed owner of about 80 container ships on the water and under construction — disclosed a bulker acquisition that has lifted its capesize fleet to 10 vessels.
In its earnings results on Tuesday, the company revealed itself as the buyer of the 175,100-dwt Star Audrey (built 2011) — a vessel US-listed peer Star Bulk Carriers confirmed selling to undisclosed buyers earlier this year.
Broking sources had put the price of the Chinese-built, scrubber-fitted ship at about $27.5m.
Danaos said on Tuesday that it expects to take delivery of the Star Audrey in June or July, alongside two other capesizes acquired from Foremost Maritime earlier this year: the 176,500-dwt Guo May (built 2011) and the 178,000-dwt Xin Hang (built 2010).
Coustas started building a capesize fleet last year, investing some of the bumper profits his boxships had earned during the coronavirus pandemic and aims to grow the company’s bulker exposure.
“We are continuing to explore ways to increase our exposure to this market,” chief executive Coustas said, adding: “The dry bulk market has performed above expectations, and we are confident that an eventual Chinese recovery will drive the market higher.”
Bumper profit
Danaos’ bulkers have started making a modest contribution to the company’s profitability, which remained elevated in the first quarter.
Bulkers added $337,000 its overall net profit, which rose at an annual pace of 2.9% to $150.5m, boosted by healthy container markets.
“Both charter and box rates are gaining momentum, and we have completed all necessary re-chartering activity in excess of our internal forecasts,” Coustas said in the earnings release.
“The renewed optimism in the market extends to the longer-term view of the charterers, who are making charter commitments on newbuilding vessels with deliveries scheduled from 2025 through the end of 2027,” the Greek executive added.
Danaos said it has taken advantage of these market conditions to secure multi-year chartering agreements for all the 14 newbuildings it has currently under construction.
As a result, Danaos left its dividend payment unchanged for a third consecutive quarter at $0.80 per share.
Coustas is the largest shareholder in the company with a 47% stake. The company’s stock closed at a two-year high of $90.59 in New York on Monday, which gives it a market value of about $1.76bn.
This remains below the $2.71bn net value of the Danaos fleet as of the end of the first quarter.
