Diana Shipping Acquires Capesize Bulker

Diana Shipping Inc., a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, has announced that yesterday it signed, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, a Memorandum of Agreement to acquire from an unaffiliated third party the m/v Churchill Bulker, a 2011 built Capesize dry bulk vessel of 179,362 dwt, for a purchase price of $28.5 million.

The vessel, to be renamed Seattle, is expected to be delivered to the buyer by mid-November 2015.

Excluding the newly acquired vessel, as well as one new-building Capesize dry bulk vessel expected to be delivered to the Company by mid-November 2015, one new-building Newcastlemax dry bulk vessel expected to be delivered to the Company during the second quarter of 2016, and one new-building Kamsarmax dry bulk vessel and one new-building Newcastlemax dry bulk vessel expected to be delivered to the company during the third quarter of 2016, Diana Shipping Inc.’s fleet currently consists of 41 dry bulk vessels (two Newcastlemax, 12 Capesize, three Post-Panamax, four Kamsarmax and 20 Panamax). As of today, the combined carrying capacity of the company’s fleet, excluding the five vessels not yet delivered, is approximately 4.7 million dwt with a weighted average age of 7.57 years.