DryShips Disposes of Five Panamax Bulkersv

2016-11-01

DryShips Disposes of Five Panamax Bulkers

Greek owner of drybulk carriers DryShips Inc. has sold five of its Panamax vessels for an aggregate gross price of USD 29.4 million.

Namely, two Panamax vessels Amalfi and Samatan, along with their associated bank debt, were sold to entities controlled by the company’s Chairman and CEO, George Economou.

As part of the transaction, the company entered into an agreement to increase its secured revolving facility provided by an entity controlled by George Economou.

The revolver was amended to increase the maximum available amount by USD 5 million to USD 75 million and to give DryShips an option to convert USD 7.5 million of the outstanding balance to shares of its common stock within 365 days. Following this transaction, the outstanding balance under the revolver will stand at USD 69.4 million.

The company said that the transaction was approved by the independent members of its Board of Directors on the basis of vessel valuations and a fairness opinion.

The remaining three Panamax vessels from the batch, Ocean Crystal, Sonoma and Sorrento, were sold to un-affiliated buyers.

Dryships said that all of the gross proceeds from the sales will be used to pay down their respective loan facilities. The vessels are scheduled to be delivered to their new owners during November 2016.

DryShips owns a fleet of 16 Panamax drybulk carriers with a combined deadweight tonnage of some 1.2 million tons, and 6 offshore supply vessels, comprised of 2 platform supply and 4 oil spill recovery vessels.

Source from : World Maritime News

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