Cypriot bulker owner Castor Maritime has added to its period cover to protect cash flow during the coronavirus outbreak.
The company said its 76,000-dwt panamax Magic P (built 2004) had completed its scheduled dry docking and special survey on 21 March.
The ship then started work under a new charter contract with Comerge for between 90 to 105 days at a gross rate of $7,000 per day.
Its other two panamaxes are earning $12,000 and $13,000 per day until at least June, through deals with Oldendorff Carriers and another charterer named as United.
Chief executive Petros Panagiotidis said the Covid-19 outbreak is "causing unprecedented uncertainty, affecting the global economy and the majority of business activities, including the shipping sector".
But the company has been able to continue operations with minimal disruption so far.
Insulation is the aim
"Although it is very difficult to reasonably predict the estimated length or severity of the Covid-19 pandemic on future operating results, we are working very hard to ensure that we insulate our company, as much as possible, from the, hopefully, short-term volatility and weakness in rates," the chief executive said.
"In this context, we are pleased that Magic P has successfully finished its scheduled drydock and has been promptly fixed for trading at a competitive rate in this market."
The deal, along with existing cover for the other two ships, allows Castor to operate on a "cash flow positive basis", the company added.
"In addition, our healthy cash position provides us a further cushion to withstand a weaker market. At the same time, it also provides us with the ability to take advantage of any attractive opportunities presented to us in the current market conditions," Panagiotidis said.
The Baltic Exchange was quoting fronthaul spot trips for panamaxes in and around the high $8,000 to $9,000 per day mark after a thin week of trading.
The market was impacted by port suspensions in a region of Argentina, while nervousness beset the East Coast South America market.
"Weaker bunker prices further accentuated matters, and there became an apparent appetite for many owners to lock in for longer duration business given the increasingly bleak macro-outlook," the Baltic added.
Castor said in January it was eyeing ship purchases after raising $9.5m.
The shipowner secured a term loan worth $4.5m and planned to sell debentures up to a value of $5m.
The finance deal was sealed with an unnamed lender and was carried out by one of its ship-owning subsidiaries.
