New York-listed Greek owner Costamare has bolstered its dry bulk operating platform, Costamare Bulkers Inc. (CBI), taking its fleet over the 50-ship mark since last November.
Established to charter in and out bulkers, enter into contracts of affreightment and utilise hedging solutions, CBI has since February, when the owner of 114 vessels announced its Q4 2022 earnings, expanded its chartered-in fleet from 23 to 51 ships.
Backed by an investment commitment of up to $200m, of which some $150m has already been used, CBI has fixed a fleet of 31 newcastlemax/capesize vessels, 19 kamsarmax/panamax vessels and one ultramax, with 39 delivered, and the majority on index-linked charter-in agreements. The new venture has a global footprint through offices in Athens and Monaco and agencies in Copenhagen, Hamburg and Singapore.
Costamare, with an owned fleet of 71 containerships and 43 bulkers, logged a first-quarter 2023 net profit of around $142m attributable to common shareholders and reported liquidity above $1bn at quarter-end. The company entered into more than 60 chartering agreements for its owned dry bulk fleet since the Q4 2022 earnings release and sold two handy bulkers, the 2011-built Taibo and the 2010-built Miner, while the 2010-built 37,300 dwt Comity is expected to be sold in the second quarter.
