Baltic Cape News

Knightsbridge Shipping Limited (KSL) has entered an agreement with RWE Supply & Trading GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of RWE AG, for chartering out a total of 15 Capesize vessels on long term contracts. The basis of the transaction is to employ the vessels on index linked contracts. The earning of each vessel is decided through a pre-agreed premium on top of the prevailing spot market (Baltic Cape Index 4 T/C), reflecting the better performance of the new generation Capesize vessels. The vessels will be delivered over the coming five quarters starting first quarter 2015. The transaction is done on a to-be-nominated basis where the company will deliver vessels on a fairly evenly spread basis through until the first quarter of 2016.

Conditions on the dry cargo freight market were generally steadier for Capesizes on Wednesday, with the Baltic Cape Index posted at an unchanged 2,171, brokers said. Atlantic Panamax rates rose further and brokers said conditions were also slowly improving for owners in the East for later May positions. The South African sector remained firm. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) gained two points to 1,611 and the Baltic Panamax Index rose 10 points to 1,522, while the Baltic Handysize Index fell three points to 1,150.