Greek shipping company Diana Shipping Inc. said Friday it signed an agreement to sell one of its Capesize dry bulk carriers, the Pantelis SP, for $81 million.
Diana, which bought the 8-year-old Pantelis in February 2005 for $63.5 million, said it will apply proceeds of the sale of its oldest vessels toward the purchase price of a new Capesize vessel. That new vessel, that Semirio, costs $17 million more than the sale price of Pantelis SP, the company said.

Pantelis will be delivered to the new owners by July 2007, until which time Diana will receive revenue from the vessel.

Separately, the company said it signed a contract with Cargill International SA to charter one of its vessels for 23-25 months at a daily rate of $27,000.

Shares of Diana Shipping gained 2 cents to $18.26 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.