London: Glencore Grain (Rotterdam) has extended its contract on its fifth Diana Shipping panamax bulk carrier in the space of three months at an increased rate, showing panamax rates are slowly improving.
The trader today extended its existing time charter of the Atalandi (77,529 dwt, built 2014) for a further 11 to 14 months.
The gross charter rate was fixed at $7,000 per day for the first 30 days of the timecharter period and $8,000 per day for the balance period of the contract, including 5% commission for third parties.
Diana says this should generate around $2.61m of gross revenue for the minimum 11-month period, which will commence on April 13.
In mid-March, the trader extended its timecharter for the Diana panamax Oceanis (75,211 dwt, built 2001) at a gross rate of $4,500 per day for the first 50 days of the 11- to 14-month charter period, which commenced on March 22. The gross rate will be $7,200 per day for the remaining period of the timecharter. Diana expects the deal to generate around $2.24m of gross revenue for the 11-month period.
Today, the Baltic Panamax Index climbed 6 points to 591. The timecharter average rate for a 74,000-dwt vessel on the four benchmark routes today is $4,720 per day, up $48 on yesterday’s level.
