Diana Shipping Announces $53.5m Drawdown

Diana Shipping Inc., a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, completed a drawdown of $53.5 million on December 19, 2014, through two separate wholly-owned subsidiaries, under a term loan facility it signed with BNP Paribas. The proceeds will be used to partially finance the acquisition costs of two Capesize dry bulk vessels, the m/v P. S. Palios and the m/v G. P. Zafirakis, which were delivered to the company on December 2, 2013 and August 20, 2014, respectively.

Additionally, the company announced that through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it entered into a time charter contract with Glencore Grain B.V., Rotterdam, for one of its Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Nirefs, a 75,311 dwt Panamax dry bulk vessel built in 2001. The gross charter rate is $7,500 per day minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum 11 months to maximum 14 months. The charter is expected to commence on December 25, 2014. This employment is anticipated to generate approximately $2.47 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the charter.