Eagle Bulk to Purchase Up to Nine Ultramax Bulk Carriers

Photo: Eagle Bulk Shipping

Stamford-headquartered Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (Nasdaq: EGLE) on Wednesday announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to purchase up to nine Crown-63 Ultramax dry bulk vessels for an aggregate price of $153 million, assuming all 9 ships are transacted.

The agreement calls for a minimum purchase of six vessels.

The sister vessels, which range in age from 2 to 5 years, will be acquired from Greenship Bulk Trust, a company registered on the Norwegian OTC list.

The agreement includes the outright acquisition of six vessels, with an additional three vessels contingent upon final approval from Greenship’s unit holders, Eagle Bulk said.

Deliveries are expected in April of this year.

“Eagle Bulk continues to execute on our fleet renewal and growth strategy, and today’s announced acquisition affirms our ability to transact in a meaningful way,” commented Gary Vogel, Eagle Bulk’s CEO. “We are especially pleased that we were able to reach an agreement to purchase six, and potentially nine, sister ships en bloc in a market where quality tonnage is difficult to find. We view this as a milestone transaction, as it can increase our number of vessels by over 20% while meaningfully advancing the build-out of our owner-operator business model.”

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. is a Marshall Islands corporation headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The company owns one of the largest fleets of Supramax/Ultramax dry bulk vessels in the world. Supramax/ Ultramax vessels, which are constructed with on-board cranes, range in size from approximately 50,000 to 65,000 dwt.

Assuming the successful delivery of all nine vessels, the Eagle Bulk fleet will consist of 50 owned vessels.

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