DryShips Buys Kamsarmax Bulker

Nasdaq Nasdaq-listed ship owner DryShips said it has inked a deal to acquire one 82,129 DWT Kamsarmax drybulk carrier built in 2014, the company said. The ship will be financed with approximately USD 24 million using cash on hand. DryShips expects to take delivery of the vessel during the second quarter of 2017. Earlier this week, the ship owner disclosed that having recently repaid its loan facility of USD 15.2 million, the company’s cash and cash equivalents total in about USD 384 million. Hence, DryShips CEO, George Economou, said the company was pursuing bank debt financing for the first time since November 2014 so as to further grow its fleet. Separately, the company informed that it has taken delivery a 113,644 DWT newbuilding Aframax tanker. “We are very excited to have started taking delivery of our previously announced acquisitions and also continue to grow our fleet with a new acquisition of one more modern vessel. The DryShips new era has official started and is expected to be accretive to our earnings and cash flow,” Economou added.