Diana Shipping spends $330m on nine Sea Trade ultramaxesDiana Shipping spends $330m on nine Sea Trade ultramaxes

The vessels were built between 2015 and 2018 at Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United, each have four 30 tonne grabs and come in around 60,400 dwt. The ships will be bought with $220m in cash and $110m in newly issued common shares in Diana Shipping at $5.95 per share.

The company said the cash portion of the sale will be met by a new credit facility which is currently under negotiation with a European lender, plus cash on hand.

The sale represents the entirety of Sea Trade Holdings’ fleet. The venture was established in 2011, according to its website.

With the addition of the nine vessels and one recently-announced sale, Diana Shipping will own a fleet of 43 dry bulk vessels, the nine ultramaxes joining 4 newcastlemax, 11 capesize, 5 post-Panamax, 6 kamsarmax and 8 panamax bulkers.

Prior to the recently announced sale and acquisitions, Diana Shipping’s fleet has an average age of 10.53 years.