Greek shipping company United Maritime will add a third Japanese Kamsarmax vessel to its fleet after signing an 18-month bareboat charter-in agreement.
The 2016 built vessel, which will be renamed Nisea, will become the youngest in the company’s fleet when it is added in June, the company revealed in its annual earnings report for 2023.
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Stamatis Tsantanis, chairman and CEO of United Maritime, said: “With regards to our investment strategy, we are pleased with the timing of our transition towards larger sizes of dry bulk vessels, as we are currently witnessing the strongest first quarter for the dry bulk market of the past decade.”
The addition of the 82,235dwt vessel, which comes with a purchase option at the end of the charter, was announced only a year after the company first welcomed Kamsarmax size vessels to its fleet with its deal for two 80,000+ dwt vessels.
While the shipping company has not provided details of where the new ship is coming from, it said that the Dry Bulk vessel was built at Oshima shipyard in Japan.
United Maritime, a spinoff of Tsantanis lead Seaenergy Maritime, was founded in 2022 and currently operates a fleet of eight vessels, three Capesize, three Panamaz, and two Kamsarmax, all in the dry bulk sector.
An announcement early in the year of the addition of the new Kamsarmax indicates that the company may continue its expansion seen in 2023, when it spent $144m on acquiring seven vessels.
Additionally, the company recorded an increased revenue of $36.1m in 2023, up $13.3m on 2022, but saw a notable drop in adjusted income from $40.9m to $2.8m, possibly due to its significant investments.
