Diana Containerships Repays Existing Indebtedness in Full

Athens-based boxship owner Diana Containerships has completed the sale of one of its Post-Panamax container vessel and secured a debt-free balance sheet.

The earlier announced sale of the m/v Hamburg was finalized with the delivery of the vessel to its new owners.

The 2009-built ship was sold to an unaffiliated third party for a price of USD 21 million.

Part of the proceeds from the sale of the vessel were used by the company to repay in full its existing indebtedness.

The full and final repayment of the loan was made on July 23, ahead of schedule, according to Diana Shipping. The loan to Diana Containerships was originally agreed in May 2013 and refinanced in June 2017.

Diana Shipping said that, in addition to the full repayment of the outstanding principal amount, the company received aggregate interest and other payments, including a discount premium in the amount of USD 5 million, of approximately USD 19.8 million during the life of the facility.

“With the repayment in full of the Diana Shipping Inc. loan, the company has no outstanding debt on its fleet of four modern container vessels,” Andreas Michalopoulos, Diana Containerships’ Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, said.

“The transition from a highly leveraged company in breach of financial covenants during the first half of 2017 to a debt free balance sheet today represents a remarkable turnaround for the Company, which can be largely attributed to management’s successful refinancing of its outstanding RBS credit facility in June 2017, its ability to raise additional equity capital and the strategically timed sales of certain of its containerships at attractive prices during the past 8 months.”

Diana Containerships’ fleet currently consists of 4 container vessels, two Post-Panamax and two Panamax.