Castor Maritime Buys Secondhand Panamax Bulker

Dry bulk shipping company Castor Maritime said it reached a deal Monday to purchase a Japanese 2010-built Panamax bulk carrier.

The vessel, which Castor said it acquired from an unaffiliated third party for $13.86 million, is expected to be handed over by mid-October. Castor did not reveal the name of the ship or the seller.

Petros Panagiotidis, who serves as the Cyprus-based company's chairman, CEO and CFO, said, “We are very pleased to announce the expansion of our fleet to six vessels, which signifies the doubling of our fleet size within a quarter’s time. We believe that with this acquisition we have, once again, demonstrated our ability to quickly utilize the capital raised in our recent offerings in a productive and accretive manner.”

Castor was formed in 2017 and it grew its fleet from one to three vessels in 2019, before adding three more in 2020.

“We remain committed to continuing the assessment of the various market opportunities presented to us, and we remain focused on our goal of growing our fleet further while at the same time aiming to maximize shareholder value,” Panagiotidis said.