Norwegian shipowner 2020 Bulkers has pushed the delivery dates for the last two of its scrubber-fitted newbuilding bulkers for the first half of June 2020.
The two 208,000 dwt Newcastlemaxes are being built at New Times Shipyard in China and form part of a batch of a total of eight units built at the same yard over the past two years.
The ships were supposed to be delivered by June, however, due to the secondary effects of the coronavirus pandemic and disruption to the supply chain at shipyards their delivery has been somewhat delayed.
The value of the each vessel is around $50 million, based on the estimates from VesselsValues.
Since the beginning of this year, 2020 Bulkers took delivery of two newbuildings, Bulk Shenzhen and Bulk Sydney.
Upon departing New Times Shipyard in January, the Bulk Shenzhen commenced a 11-13 month time charter with ST Shipping, a 100% owned subsidiary of Glencore.
Shortly after Bulk Sydney commenced a 36-month index-linked time charter with Koch Industries.
In February 2020, the company converted the index-linked charter hire for the two ships into fixed rate charter hire at $21,919 per day, gross and $22,673 per day, gross, respectively, for the remainder of 2020.
Glencore has hired two of the company’s ships, while Koch Industries hired a total of four bulkers from 2020 Bulkers.
The two newbuildings remain open for hiring, according to the company’s website.
The bulker owner reported a net profit of $0.3 million and EBITDA of $4.4 million for the first quarter of 2020.
Achieved average time charter equivalent earnings reached approximately $15,600, per day, gross in Q1, while for the second quarter the earnings were higher reaching $18,200.
During the second quarter, the company has also entered into interest swap arrangements for a total of $177 million, securing an all-in interest rate of 3% for the fully drawn amount under the term loan facility.