Athens: NewLead Holdings has fixed one of its panamax bulkers on a contract of affreightment (COA) to transport around 704,000 tons of aggregates over eleven consecutive voyages for an unnamed charterer.
The Newlead Markela (71,700 dwt, built 1990) will commence the COA in March for a period of up to 12 months, trading in the Arabian Gulf, NewLead said today.
“We have succeeded in securing solid employment of the Newlead Markela for the year 2015 while the dry bulk market is at historical lows,” Michael Zolotas, chairman and CEO of NewLead, said in a statement today.
The panamax market is one of the few dry cargo shipping segments to have seen sustained growth in recent weeks. The Baltic Panamax Index jumped 13 points on yesterday to reach a level of 564 today.
This, in part, helped the Baltic Dry Index grow by five points on yesterday to 553 points today.
“We intend to capitalise on our strong commercial relationships with charterers and trading companies to capture trading opportunities despite unfavorable market conditions in the dry bulk sector,” Zolotas continued.
NewLead aims to continue to grow its fleet “while taking advantage of market opportunities”, the CEO said.
Last week, the Nasdaq-listed owner fixed a bitumen carrier on a 10-month COA, as Splash reported previously.