Greek bulker owner and manager Pioneer Marine is paying shareholders $35.6m after more vessel sales during the third quarter.
This equates to $1.40 per share after debt on the ships is repaid.
The Oslo-listed company offloaded six bulkers in the three months to 30 September, following a management buy-out.
One handysize, the 37,000-dwt Resolute Bay (built 2012), is all that remains. But it too will be sold this quarter or early in January.
Pioneer has said it manages 13 ships. The Resolute Bay is one of these, but the others have not been named.
The company's management subsidiaries and commercial management contracts with third-party owners were sold to a company controlled by chief executive Jim Papoulis and chief financial officer Korinna Tapaktsoglou earlier this year.
The gain recognised as a result of this transaction is $63,000.
TradeWinds reported that Norwegian investor Arne Fredly is among those snapping up the former Pioneer Marine bulkers, taking over six in 2021.
But his relationship with the company, if any, has not been disclosed and neither side is commenting.
The buyout saw the exit of founding investor Garrison Investment Group, the US private equity fund.
Back in profit
Pioneer Marine's net profit in the third quarter was $800,000, up from a loss of $2.1m in the same period of 2020.
Time charter equivalent revenue dropped to $5.4m from $9.1m as the fleet shrank.
As of 30 September, the company had total liquidity of $5.8m.
It said the profit was due to the "impressive turnaround" in the dry bulk market this year.
Pioneer Marine was operating five ships in the period, against 15 in the third quarter of 2020.
Recovering demand meant daily TCE rates averaged $10,050, 52% above a year ago.
Operating costs were cut slightly to $4,416 per day, down from $4,469 per day.
A total of $88.8m in cash has been banked from vessel disposals so far this year, with dividends of $60.9m handed back in the first half.
The company was formed in 2013 by Pankaj Khanna, the former operations chief of Greek bulker and tanker owner DryShips, with backing from Garrison.
Papoulis and Tapaktsoglou formed part of the new management team that replaced Khanna after he left in 2017, moving the company from Singapore to Greece.
