Diana Shipping Inc. Announces Signing of a Supplemental Agreement With BNP Paribas for a 2.5 Year Extension of the Maturity of the Existing Facility With the Bank; Announces the Sale of a Panamax Dry Bulk Vessel, the m/v Arethusa
ATHENS, Greece, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: ), (the “Company”), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, today announced that on June 29, 2020, it signed, through two wholly-owned subsidiaries owning the m/v G. P. Zafirakis and m/v P. S. Palios, a supplemental agreement to the existing secured loan agreement with BNP Paribas, to extend by 2.5 years the maturity of the existing secured loan facility until May 19, 2024.
The Company also announced that today it signed, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, a Memorandum of Agreement to sell to an unaffiliated third party, the 2007-built vessel “Arethusa”, with delivery to the buyer latest by August 31, 2020, for a sale price of US$7.85 million before commissions.
Upon completion of the aforementioned sale, Diana Shipping Inc.’s fleet will consist of 40 dry bulk vessels (4 Newcastlemax, 13 Capesize, 5 Post-Panamax, 5 Kamsarmax and 13 Panamax). As of today, the combined carrying capacity of the Company’s fleet, including the m/v Arethusa, is approximately 5.1 million dwt with a weighted average age of 9.79 years. A table describing the current Diana Shipping Inc. fleet can be found on the Company’s website, . Information contained on the Company’s website does not constitute a part of this press release.
About the Company
Diana Shipping Inc. is a global provider of shipping transportation services through its ownership of dry bulk vessels. The Company’s vessels are employed primarily on medium to long-term time charters and transport a range of dry bulk cargoes, including such commodities as iron ore, coal, grain and other materials along worldwide shipping routes.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.
The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words “believe,” “anticipate,” “intends,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “potential,” “may,” “should,” “expect,” “pending” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, Company management’s examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Company’s records and other data available from third parties. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies that are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond the Company’s control, the Company cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.
In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in the Company’s view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the severity, magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts of the pandemic and of businesses’ and governments’ responses to the pandemic on our operations, personnel, and on the demand for seaborne transportation of bulk products; the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for dry bulk shipping capacity, changes in the Company’s operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for the Company’s vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other factors. Please see the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Corporate Contact: Ioannis Zafirakis Director, Interim Chief Financial Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Treasurer and Secretary Telephone: 00 Email: | Website: Investor and Media Relations: Edward Nebb Comm-Counsellors, LLC Telephone: 0 Email:
