Goldenport orders two more Supramax bulkers

Goldenport orders two more Supramax bulkers Goldenport Holdings Inc. has ordered two 57,000-deadweight-ton geared “supramax” bulk carriers from China’s Qingshan Shipyard, part of the Changjiang National Shipping Group, for $91.66 million.
   The two vessels are slated for a December 2010 delivery. Goldenport said that upon delivery, the first vessel would be immediately employed under an agreed time charter at the rate of $27,000 per day for three years “with a high quality charterer.”
   Goldenport has paid an initial deposit of $27.36 million for the two bulkers, made up by $8.82 million from cash reserves, $10 million through an existing credit facility, and $8.54 million through the draw-down of a new loan facility, specifically arranged for the purchases. The remaining payments will be made to the yard based on the construction process schedule and will be financed by a mixture of cash reserves and the new loan facility.
   The company’s newbuilding program now includes two 2,500-TEU container vessels from Jiangsu Yangzijiang with deliveries scheduled for 2010 and 2011, and eight Supramax dry bulk carriers with deliveries scheduled for 2008 to 2010. These ships will expand Goldenport’s fleet to 33 vessels comprising 18 container vessels and 15 dry bulk carriers.
   “Following the sale of our aged bulk carriers Samos and Ios, on which we realized strong profits of more than $33 million, we wanted to maintain the balance between containers and bulk carriers in our fleet and also to expand the fleet with younger tonnage, thereby extending the economic life of the company’s asset base,” said Capt. Paris Dragnis, chief executive officer of Goldenport.
   “Given the current high prices of second-hand bulk carriers, we decided to invest in two additional new building supramaxes, which are in our preferred sub-segment of the bulk market.”
   Dragnis added the company would continue to evaluate and consider a number of opportunities for the acquisition of second-hand container vessels.