Diana Shipping has signed a trio of time-charter deals amid continued signs that period rates are eroding.
The New York-listed company said it signed charter deals that lock in about $15.5m in gross revenue, or more if the charterers hold onto the ships for longer than the minimum periods.
The Greek company said that it signed a deal with Hong Kong’s ASL Bulk Marine that will employ its 60,500-dwt DSI Phoenix (built 2017) for between 16 and 18 months at a rate of $13,250 per day, minus a 5% commission.
The ultramax began the charter on Friday.
The rate is significantly below recent period charters in the ultramax sector, although the deal is longer than the 12-month charters that were fetching $17,000 per day in October, according to data from the Baltic Exchange.
But assessments by shipbroking giant Clarksons have shown ultramax bulkers in decline, falling to just under $14,800 per day on Friday from nearly $15,500 a week earlier, after a recent peak of nearly $17,400 per day on 21 October.
Diana’s charter deals for two larger vessels reflected similar trends.
The Semiramis Paliou-led company struck a deal with Luxembourg operator Cobelfret for the 98,700-dwt post-panamax bulker Amphitrite (built 2012) at $14,250 per day, minus the 5% commission.
13-month deal
That charter, which is to commence on Thursday, will see the bulker employed by Cobelfret until 1 December at the earliest, with the latest redelivery on 15 February.
And Diana said it struck an agreement with Singapore’s Reachy Shipping that will see its 77,500-dwt Crystalia (built 2014) earn $12,500 per day, with the commission taking a 5% bite out of that rate.
The ice-class panamax will start the charter on Tuesday and will be locked up between 1 September and 15 October.
There are scant publicly available charters of post-panamaxes and classic panamaxes of similar length for comparison.
But Clarksons data points to declining period rates in the panamax segment.
The shipbroker said on Friday that a 75,000-dwt bulker could earn nearly $14,600 per day on a one-year charter, down from just under $14,900 per day a week earlier and $16,500 per day on 21 October.
The dipping market for midsize bulker term charters mirrors a slumping spot market.
The Baltic Exchange’s P5TC average of panamax spot rates, which tracks larger 82,000-dwt vessels, fell to $15,300 per day on Monday, down from nearly $19,500 per day on 19 October.
The S10TC index of supramax spot rates fell to $13,800 per day, down from a peak of nearly $18,900 on 11 October. The route basket tracks 58,000-dwt vessels, which are slightly smaller than ultramaxes.
