Economou to buy 17 bulkers from DryShip

capt odysseus lekatsas

Rest of fleet ‘held for sale’ triggering huge impairment loss

DRYSHIPS, the Greece-based dry bulk carrier owner, has agreed to sell 17 vessels, including all its capesizes, to founder and chief executive George Economou, writes Nigel Lowry.

The Nasdaq-listed owner unveiled the deal, which has been approved by the company’s independent directors, alongside a warning that it expects

to take a $795m hit in impairment losses on its third-quarter results.

Of this amount, $373m is the expected charge stemming from the 17 ships to be sold to Mr Economou.

In addition, though, the

company is reclassifying all remaining 22 vessels, mostly panamaxes, as held for sale, raising questions about DryShips’ immediate plans to remain in shipping.

Reclassification will entail a further write-down of about $422m in the fleet’s valuation, the company said.

Under the deal, Mr Economou’s private Cardiff Marine group will pay an aggregate price of $377m for the 13 capesizes and four panamaxes, including assuming debt on the ships that currently stands at $236.7m.

All the individual transactions are envisaged as closing in the fourth quarter of 2015 although some are subject to bank approvals.

The move follows deals

Mr Economou’s private Cardiff Marine group will pay an aggregate price of $377m for the 13 capesizes and four panamaxes.

‘Letter of comfort’ could pave way for ships on banned list to return
to trading in Nigeria. However, legal experts warn that review of activities still under way

A LETTER from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp, seen by Lloyd’s List and dated September 8, states that new Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari has decided to allow more than 100 banned crude tankers into the country’s territorial waters, on the condition that terminal operators

provide a “letter of comfort” guaranteeing that the vessels will not be used for illegal activity, writes Hal Brown.

While the move to relax the ban imposed in late July has come as a surprise to experts, it is premature to suggest that the ban has been lifted and owners with vessels on the list can sail to Nigeria

earlier this year whereby the shipowner’s growing private empire acquired DryShips’ tanker fleet of 10 suezmaxes and aframaxes.

The current DryShips fleet comprises 39 bulkers and the company has a large stake
in offshore drilling affiliate Ocean Rig.