Gram Car Carriers has wasted no time in finding term work for one of two ships acquired two days ago from F Laeisz as part of its Oslo listing.
The Norwegian owner paid for the 5,000-ceu Passama and Passero (both built 2012) in shares, making the German seller the group’s biggest shareholder on 25.5%.
Now Gram has secured $27,000 per day for the Passero with an unnamed major Asian operator over three years, starting in May.
The deal is worth $30m over the period.
Analysts at Fearnley Securities had earlier mentioned reports of a ship being chartered out at this rate against a background of strong fundamentals.
Gram chief executive Georg Whist said the deal confirms a strong and firming market which is reflected in attractive returns and longer contract durations.
“The new charter increases our long-term earnings visibility and ability to provide direct shareholder returns through attractive dividends,” he added.
In a strong position
Gram believes it is ideally positioned to capture a strengthening market, with 25% of fleet days open this year, and 77% in 2023.
TradeWinds recently reported that Gram Car Carriers had raised $121m from a pre-listing private placement in Oslo that was said to have been heavily oversubscribed.
The shipowner pulled a $100m initial public offering in November due to a lack of investor interest.
Aside from F Laeisz, five other “cornerstone” investors agreed to back the offering for a total of $37.4m.
AL Maritime Holdings acquired $12m of shares, Danish shipowner J Lauritzen another $10m, KLP Alfa Global Energy and AS Clipper $6m each and Surfside Holding $3.4m.
