Paragon Shipping Inc., a global shipping transportation company specializing in drybulk cargoes, announced yesterday that it has entered into an agreement with an unaffiliated third party to acquire a 2008-built Supramax drybulk carrier. The vessel, to be named the Friendly Seas, has a capacity of 58,779 dwt and will be purchased with a timecharter attached at $55,000 per day for a period of 10 to 12 months to Irika Shipping, who, in turn, have chartered the vessel to Cargill on identical terms. Immediately following the expiration of this charter, the vessel has been fixed to Dieulemar at $33,750 per day for a period of 58 to 62 months. The vessel is expected to be delivered to Paragon between July 1, 2008 and September 1, 2008.
The purchase price of the vessel is $79.25 million. The Company intends to finance 50% of the acquisition with bank debt under its existing credit facilities, and the balance with available cash on hand.
With the addition of this vessel, the Company's fleet will consist of seven Panamax drybulk carriers, three Handymax drybulk carriers and two Supramax drybulk carriers, with an aggregate capacity of approximately 765,137 dwt.
Michael Bodouroglou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paragon, commented, ``This acquisition is fully in line with our strategic aim of acquiring modern vessels that are accretive to earnings and cash flow. In this case, we have taken advantage of the current favorable charter market to secure fixed employment for the next six years with reputable charterers. We expect that the two charters will generate $70 million in revenue in the aggregate, representing a solid return on this investment over the time period and providing additional visibility into our revenues and cash flows going forward. Going forward, we intend to continue to build a modern, versatile fleet through opportunistic vessel purchases.''
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Source: hellenicshippingnews.com
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