The company has fixed five vessels for up to about a year – two panamax ships, one post-panamax and two kamsarmax units
The move into chartering was predicted last week when Justin Yagerman of Deutsche Bank published a note in which he said Scorpio Bulkers would refrain from ordering more vessels with delivery dates beyond the end of 2016 and use a recent dip in freight rates to fix ships on favourable terms.
Scorpio’s first bulker in the water will be a 2009-built panamax fixed for five to seven months at $15,900 per day. It was delivered on 23 January.
The unnamed vessel will be quickly followed by three more ships expected to be delivered by the end of February.
The trio will comprise two 2012-built kamsarmax vessels chartered for ten to 12 months at $14,500 per day and 12 to 14 months at $15,000 per day respectively, plus one 2010-built post-panamax for eight to 10 months at $13,250 per day.
The final fixture involves a 2014-built panamax arriving at the end of March for 12 to 13 months at $16,000 per day.
The company’s first newbuilding, an 82,000-dwt kamsarmax, is due for delivery from SWS in the second quarter of this year.
Scorpio Bulkers’ orderbook consists of 28 ultramax, 23 kamsarmax and 23 capesize vessels. When delivered it will give the company a fleet with a total carrying capacity of about eight million deadweight tonnes.
