Diana Shipping has fixed its panamax bulk carrier Protefs on a 12- to 16-month timecharter to Transgrain at a gross daily rate of $4,500, minus 5% commission.
The NYSE-listed company expects the contract to generate gross revenue of around $1.55m during the first 12 months, commencing on February 22.
The panamax was fixed at a rate 28% lower than what it was earning on its previous contract with Glencore Grain. The ship was fixed to the Rotterdam-based trader in April 2015 at a gross daily rate of $6,250 for 11 to 14 months. Protefs was scheduled to be redelivered on March 3 but the contract was terminated slightly early on February 18, for which Glencore will compensate Diana.
London-based shipbroker Alibra Shipping today estimates daily rates of $5,700 for a one-year timecharter of a panamax vessel in the Atlantic Basin or $4,900 in the Pacific.
Today, brokers also report that Louis Dreyfus Commodities has taken Arendals Dampskibsselskab’s panamax ADS Arendal (76,830 dwt, built 2004) on a two-year period charter at a daily rate of $4,950 from March 2.