Geneva-based SwissMarine Services has taken Diana Shipping’s capesize Aliki on a 11- to 14-month timecharter at a gross rate of $5,300 per day, less 5% commission.
on a 11- to 14-month timecharter at a gross rate of $5,300 per day, less 5% commission.The NYSE-listed company expects the contract to generate around $1.75m of gross revenue for the minimum 11-month period of the charter.
The charter commences on Saturday and was fixed at an 80% reduction in daily earnings compared to its previous employment.
Aliki has just concluded a five-year timecharter to China’s Minmetals Logistics Group, which was fixed in March 2011 at a gross rate of $26,500 per day, minus 5% commission.
The massively reduced rate shows the ever-weakening state of dry bulk shipping markets. The Baltic Dry Index today fell to a new record low for the ninth time in as many consecutive trading days. It was assessed at 373 points, having fallen 10 points since yesterday.
Similarly, the Baltic Capesize Index is at its lowest ever level and was assessed at 198 points today, down 27 on yesterday. The index’s weighted timecharter average rate today is $2,748 per day, a decrease of $198 – another historic low.
London-based shipbroker Alibra Shipping today estimates one-year timecharter rates for capesize vessels at $5,750 daily for ships in the Atlantic and Pacific basins.
