The New York-listed owner on Monday reported a loss of $7m in the three months to 30 September, versus a deficit of $0.8m in the comparable period a year prior.
The Athens-based company blamed a decrease in adjusted net income, which fell 11.4% to $15.6m year-on-year, on a dip in the charter market and the addition of eight ships.
It said: “Although the vessel additions to our fleet over the course of the last year was accretive to the bottom line, the soft charter market has triggered the cold lay up of four vessels and has also affected the re-chartering of another seven vessels that currently run at operating breakeven levels while they had a positive contribution to earnings during the third quarter of 2011.”
Operating revenues rose roughly 24% to $156.3m from $126m while its gross daily chartering rate rang in at $28,656, which was higher than levels seen at the end of each of the preceding three quarters.
In a statement chief executive John Coustas applauded ongoing efforts to control costs and reassured investors that its business model “largely insulates” the shipowner from underlying market weakness, which he expects to continue until the second half of 2013.
The operator of 64 containerships said the remaining average charter duration of its liner fleet was 9.9 years at the end of the third quarter and indicated that total contracted operating revenues stood at $5.1bn through 2028.
