Greek-based United Maritime Corporation has sealed purchase agreements, with two unaffiliated third parties, for two Kamsarmax dry bulk vessels, with prompt deliveries. The Nasdaq-listed company also announced a bareboat charter deal for one Japanese-built modern Panamax dry bulk vessel, with an unaffiliated third party in Japan. The bareboat charter includes a purchase option for United, as the company states today.
The Company expects to fund the combined purchase price of $39.2 million, through a combination of cash on hand, and proceeds from new credit facilities which are currently being negotiated. The first Kamsarmax dry bulk vessel, built in 2009 at Universal Shipbuilding in Japan, has a cargo-carrying capacity of 81,508 deadweight, and shall be renamed “Cretansea.” The Kamsarmax, is expected to be delivered to the company by the end of April 2023, subject to satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions.
The second vessel, built in 2010 at Tsuneishi Zhoushan Shipbuilding, has a cargo-carrying capacity of 82,217 deadweight, and shall be renamed “Oasea”. The vessel is expected to be delivered by mid-April 2023, as the company informs, subject to satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions.
Meanwhile, the company entered into an eighteen-month, bareboat charter deal, with an unaffiliated third party, for a 2013-built Japanese Panamax dry-bulk vessel of 78,173 deadweight.
United has advanced a down payment of $3.5 million on signing, and will further pay $3.5 million on delivery of the vessel to the company, which is estimated to take place within February 2023, and a daily charter rate of $7,300 over the period of the bareboat charter. At the end of the 18-month bareboat period, United has an option to repurchase the vessel for $12.36 million.
Stamatis Tsantanis, the company’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, said that after the recent highly-profitable sale of three tankers, they are further expanding United’s fleet, with the addition of these three vessels, an investment of approximately $63 million upon full consummation of the purchase of the bare-boat transaction.
“Our total recent investment in dry bulk will exceed $98 million in five vessels, as we strongly believe that it is the right time to invest in the particular sector. The attractive values of the acquired ships is intended to place United in a position to generate high returns with moderate leverage from an investment funded without diluting our shareholders,” as Mr. Tsantanis said.
It is worth mentioning that at the beginning of February United Maritime took delivery of Goodship, a Capesize dry bulk vessel of 177,536 deadweight, built in 2005 by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding in Japan. The vessel is chartered by an international charterer, for a period until minimum June 2023 up to maximum December 2023, at an index-linked rate. The acquisition of Goodship was financed by cash on hand, and secures an existing loan facility of the company, as the top management informs.
