Safe Bulkers has returned to Japan to order its third kamsarmax in 2024, taking its current tally of newbuildings to nine.
The 82,000-dwt bulker is due to be delivered in the first quarter of 2027. Financial terms and the name of the shipbuilder were not disclosed.
Clarksons is quoting a newbuilding price of $37.5m for a standard specification 83,000-dwt kamsarmax design, according to its weekly market report.
Safe Bulkers says 85% of its fleet has been built at Japanese shipyards.
It said this latest vessel is a sister to a number of newbuilds in its orderbook with “advanced energy efficiency characteristics resulting to lower fuel consumption”.
It will be built according to the Phase 3 requirements of the Energy Efficiency Design Index, an International Maritime Organization standard aimed at greenhouse gas reductions. And it will comply with Tier III of the IMO’s standards for emissions of nitrogen oxides.
The company now has five kamsarmaxes on order in Japan and four under construction in China, due for delivery between the third quarter of 2024 and 2027.
Safe Bulkers president Loukas Barmparis said: “We are entering in this newbuild order consistent with our fleet renewal strategy, aiming to create a resilient company with a young and efficient fleet within the ever-developing stringent CO2 emission regulations environment.”
Fifty-nine panamax/kamsarmax bulkers have been ordered this year, 22 of them by Greek shipowners, according to VesselsValue.
Including the latest newbuilding, Safe Bulkers has a fleet of 47 vessels, two of which were held for sale, consisting of 10 panamaxes, 12 kamsarmaxes, 17 post-panamaxes and eight capesizes, with an aggregate carrying capacity of 4.6m dwt and an average age of 10 years.
