United Maritime has completed $30m sale-and-leaseback financing for its three capesizes in readiness for upcoming loan maturities and to enhance its liquidity.
It has signed separate and identical $10m sale-and-leaseback deals for the 171,300-dwt Gloriuship (built 2004), 177,500-dwt Goodship (built 2005) and 176,900-dwt Tradership (built 2006) with an unnamed Chinese lessor.
United said the deals will refinance the outstanding indebtedness of the three vessels under its loan facility with EnTrust, which was amended in August.
The vessels will be sold and chartered back on a bareboat basis for three years. United is required to repurchase each vessel at the predetermined purchase price $5m after paying monthly instalments of $140,000 over the term of the financing.
Each financing shall bear interest of three-month term SOFR plus 3.3% per annum and will amortise monthly.
The deals will unlock some of the liquidity that will be needed to repay the EnTrust facility, for which $14.5m is outstanding. A payment of $1.5m is due in December followed by a $13m balloon payable in March.
United Maritime may have started life as a means of vehicle for Seanergy’s oldest vessels, yet has booked a profit and declared a larger dividend to shareholders than its former affiliate. Much of the profit, however, was generated through a tanker sale.
United booked adjusted net profit of $9.2m for the third quarter, equivalent to adjusted basic earnings of $1.03 per share. This is up from $1m profit in the same period last year.
Compare this with results for Seanergy, which owns 17 capesizes and therefore is more exposed to dry cargo’s most volatile market. The shipowner reported a $5m net loss for the three-month period and a dividend of $0.025 per share.
United owns a fleet of three capesizes, two kamsarmaxes and three panamax bulk carriers with an average age of 14.4 years.
Its third-quarter result was aided by the sale of its last remaining LR2 tanker during the period, which it said was sold at a premium of more than 85% over its acquisition price, generating an accounting gain of $11.8m.
United has repurchased $400,000 of its shares since 1 September.
This story has been amended to reflect that United Maritime has an obligation to buy back the ships after three years.
