Belships brings its newbuilding tally to four

April 14, 2023, by Jasmina Ovcina Mandra

Norwegian shipping company Belships has entered into a deal to acquire a 64,000 dwt Ultramax bulk carrier, currently under construction at a Japanese shipyard.

Belships expects to take delivery of the bulker by the end of 2025 or early in 2026.

The Norwegian shipowner now has four newbuildings under construction in Japan, with deliveries spread between 2024 and 2026.

The company said that the Japanese-design Ultramax bulk carriers represent the highest quality and lowest fuel consumption available in the market today.

As reported earlier, Belships inked a deal to acquire three Ultramax newbuildings in February this year.

The company did not disclose the name of the shipyards building the vessels.

Under the terms of the acquisitions, Belships is not required to make any down payments for these transactions.

All four vessels are fully financed through time charter lease agreements for a period of 7 to 10 years, with purchase options around current market levels during the charter. There is no obligation to purchase the vessels. Cash breakeven for the vessels upon delivery will be about $ 14,000 per day.

Belships will be taking over new vessels whilst the orderbook and supply side in the dry bulk market approaches the lowest levels in decades.

“We are able to increase our fleet again without investing any cash, this will therefore not affect our dividend capacity,” said Belships CEO, Lars Christian Skarsgård.

Including announced transactions, the company’s owned fleet will consist of 35 Supra/Ultramax bulk carriers with an average of about 4 years.

“Based on current market expectations, we expect to generate significant free cash flow and aim to pay quarterly dividends as announced with our dividend policy,” Belships said.

The Norwegian owner of dry bulk vessels has been on a fleet renewal mission over the past couple of years which resulted in the sale of older, less efficient vessels and the acquisition of efficient newbuilding bulkers predominantly built at Japanese yards.