Seanergy Acquires One More Capesize Bulker

2017-04-05

Greek dry bulk ship owner and operator Seanergy Maritime capped a busy first quarter of 2017 by acquiring its third Capesize vessel in the past six months.

The dry bulk carrier, to be renamed Partnership, was purchased for USD 32.65 million from South Korean shipping company Dong-A Tanker (DAT) and is expected to join Seanergy’s fleet by the end of May 2017.

The 179,213 dwt ship was built by South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in 2012.

Following the recent acquisition, Seanergy said its fleet will expand to 1.7 million dwt.

The announcement comes on the back of the company’s financial results for 2016 which show that Seanergy widened its net loss to USD 24.6 million from USD 9 million seen a year earlier.

The company’s revenues increased to USD 34.7 million in 2016 from USD 11.2 million recorded in 2015.

“During 2016, the dry bulk market went through the worst crisis of the last 25 years. The continuous oversupply of ships as well as the concerns over future demand for dry bulk transport led to the lowest freight rate levels since the end of the 1980’s. Despite this difficult environment, Seanergy emerged a bigger and stronger company as we managed to grow our fleet at historically favorable prices while significantly improving our financial flexibility and operational performance,” Stamatis Tsantanis, Seanergy’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, commented.

During 2016, the company also bought two secondhand Capesize bulk carriers for a price of USD 20.75 million each.

“We strongly believe that the Capesize segment represents the best fundamentals in the dry bulk industry… Seanergy will continue to actively pursue accretive acquisition opportunities of quality Capesize vessels,” Tsantanis said.

On March 14, 2017, Seanergy obtained waiver and deferral for major financial covenants from four of its senior lenders until the second quarter of 2018.

Furthermore, Seanergy agreed for an early termination of a credit facility with one of its senior lenders on March 7. The move is expected to result in a material gain of around USD 11.4 million and equity accretion for the company, according to Seaenergy Maritime.

“We strongly believe that the successful implementation of our business plan along with the improving dry bulk market conditions will continue to enhance shareholder value,” Tsantanis concluded.

As of March 2017, Seanergy owns a fleet of ten dry bulk carriers comprising eight Capesizes and two Supramaxes with a combined capacity of approximately 1.5 million dwt and an average fleet age of about 8.2 years.

Source from : World Maritime News

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