Scorpio Bulkers has entered into agreements to sell two China-built kamsarmax bulk carriers to an undisclosed buyer.
The 2015-built vessels SBI Electra and SBI Flamenco (both 82,000 dwt) are to be sold for a combined price of $48m and will be delivered to their buyer in the second quarter.
Scorpio estimates the sale will increase its liquidity by around $18.6m after the repayment of the ships’ outstanding debt.
Emanuele Lauro, the company's chairman and chief executive, said the sale “will allow the company more financial flexibility”.
Separately, the New York-listed company has revealed its timecharter equivalent (TCE) rates for the first quarter of 2019, during which its kamsarmax and ultramax fleets both had a 90% utilisation rate.
So far this year, the approximate average daily TCE rate booked by Scorpio’s kamsarmax fleet has been $11,000 per day and $9,100 daily for its ultramax fleet.
The TCE rates include earnings from vessels time-chartered out on previously announced agreements, Scorpio said.
Scorpio's TCE rates appear to be outperforming time charter average (TCA) rates for the relevant Baltic indices so far in 2019.
The Baltic Panamax Index’s TCA rate for its major routes has averaged $6,786 per day since 1 January, according to Baltic data.
The Baltic Supramax Index’s average TCA rate since the start of the year is $7,234 per day.
