TOP Tankers goes dry

TOP Tankers goes dry Athens-based ship owner TOP Tankers Inc said today it has entered into agreements to acquire three dry bulk vessels from unrelated third parties for an aggregate purchase price of $149.1 million.
   They are a 2002 built super-handymax with 51,200-deadweight-ton capacity, a 1995 built Panamax vessel of 73,506 dwt, and a handymax vessel of 45,526 dwt.
   Evangelos Pistiolis, the company’s chief executive officer, noted this was TOP’s “first entry into the dry bulk sector, which has demonstrated significant growth in the past few years and is expected to remain robust based on strong fundamentals.
   “By entering into the dry bulk sector, we can further enhance our risk profile by reducing our dependence on the tanker industry,” he said.
   “Our management team has significant experience operating large and diversified fleets of tankers and dry bulk carriers,” he added.
   The company also owns 12 double-hull Suezmax tankers and 10 double-hull Handymax tankers.