Greek dry bulk owner Diana Shipping has entered into a time charter contract with John Michael Radziwill-led C Transport Maritime (CTM) for the 2009-built Capesize bulker Houston.

The charter commenced yesterday and will run through to between July 1, 2021 and September 20, 2021. The charter rate is $6,250 per day for the first 30 days and $12,400 for the balance of the charter. The vessel was previously on charter to Koch Shipping at $10,125 per day.

Late last month, CTM also fixed Diana’s 2012-built Capesize bulker P. S. Palios for 13 to 15 months. The charter rate on that deal was $6,000 per day for the first 35 days and $12,050 per day for the remainder of the charter.

Diana Shipping says this latest deal will generate around $5.25m of revenue based on the minimum time charter period.

Belgium-based tanker giant Euronav has had its focus on VLCCs this year with plenty of deals announced. This week the 63-ship strong owner has trimmed its Suezmax fleet down to 25 vessels. Multiple broker sources report that the 2001-built 160,000 DWT Suezmax tanker Cap Diamant has been sold for $21m with West Africa Marine tipped as the taker of the Hyundai-built vessel.

In February Euronav announced the sale of another vintage Suezmax, the 2003-built 150,000 DWT Suezmax tanker Finesse for a price of $21.8m. The latest ship registration information shows that this vessel has been renamed Aldus, and the new owner is Greek outfit World Carrier, taking on its first-ever Suezmax.

Euronav has now sold three vintage Suezmaxes since January 2019.

Okeanis Eco Tankers, the Oslo-listed Alafouzos family tanker vehicle, has opted to move one of its ships from the spot market, securing a very healthy rate on a long-term time charter for one of its VLCCs.

Primarily a spot market player, Okeanis Eco Tankers has entered into a time charter contract with an unnamed international energy company for one of its VLCCs for three years firm.

Either of the 2019-built pair Nissos Anafi or Nissos Kythnos will be used for the charter, which the company says will generate around $17.5m of gross annual revenue indicating a day rate of around $48,000. The latest weekly market report from Charles R. Weber Company (see below) shows three-year charter rates for VLCCs at around $45,000.

The charter is scheduled to commence mid-May 2020.

South Korean owner Five Oceans Corporation has acquired the 2006-built 76,900 DWT Panamax bulker Bettys Beauty from Turkish owner Zihni.

According to shipbroking sources, the Sasebo-built vessel was sold for a price of around $10m, substantially higher than VesselsValue’s valuation of $8.58m.

The vessel has been renamed F Ocean, and grows the Korean company’s fleet to seven vessels including five bulk carriers.

Greek dry bulk shipowner Diana Shipping has entered into a time charter contract with Cargill International for 2013-built Kamsarmax bulker Myrto.

The new charter commences later this week and is a rate at $10,000 per day, down from the $14,000 per day Cargill was previously playing. It is scheduled to end between July 1, 2021 and September 15, 2021.

Diana Shipping says the charter will generate around $4.48m based on the minimum time charter period.

Last week, Diana Shipping fixed one of its Capesizes to C Transport Maritime and a post-Panamax bulk carrier to SwissMarine.

NASDAQ-listed Panamax bulker owner Castor Maritime has announced that 2004-built bulker Magic P has completed its scheduled dry-docking and special survey and has immediately commenced a new charter contract.

The vessel was fixed to Comerge, a Chinese commodity trader and logistics firm, for a period of 90 to 105 days at a rate of $7,000 per day.

Comerge has been an active player in the bulk carrier charter market of late, having just fixed MC Shipping’s Kamsarmax Luke Dawn on a one-year charter. It also has several ships on charter from Navios.

Castor currently has three Panamaxes in its fleet, having listed on the NASDAQ early last year.

Greek dry bulk owner Diana Shipping has entered into a time charter contract with Singapore’s SwissMarine for 2012-built post-panamax bulker Amphitrite.

The charter commenced last week, and is for 13-15 months at a rate of $10,250 per day. The vessel was previously on charter to Uniper at $12,750 per day.

Diana Shipping says the charter will generate around $3.84m of gross revenue based on the minimum charter period.

Nanjing Tanker, a tanker unit of China Merchants Group, has announced a plan to order a 3,700 DWT small chemical tanker.

The company has allocated RMB70m ($9.9m) for the newbuild project.

In the meantime, Nanjing Tanker approved a plan to sell its 2007-built Aframax tanker Bai Lu Zhou.

Nanjing Tanker currently operates a fleet of around 60 tankers with a total capacity of 2.24m DWT.

Hunter Tankers AS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Norwegian Hunter Group ASA, has entered into a six-month time charter agreement for three ships obtaining an average daily rate of approximately USD 80,000 per day.

The three ships include 2019-built ECO very large crude carriers Hunter Atla, Hunter Laga and 2020-built VLCC Hunter Freya.

The contract comes at a time when tanker owners are enjoying strong rates reaping the fruits from VLCC rate volatility as a result of the recent announcements on crude oil production boost from Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The strong tanker market has seen rates ranging from USD 65,000 to USD 100,000 for individual contracts, while certain VLCCs secured fixtures for up to USD 410K per day.

Norwegian owner Viken Shipping has acquired the 2019-built 113,000 DWT Aframax tanker Aquabliss from Greek owner Unisea.

Shipbroking houses Intermodal and Seasure Shipbroking reported that Viken Shipping bought the scrubber-fitted tanker for a price of $56m, higher than VesselsValue’s valuation of $52.53m. The deal also includes a long-term charter.

The acquisition will grow Viken Shipping’s fleet to 20 tankers.