Star Bulk Carriers Sold Three Vessels in Q3
Star Bulk Carriers has sold three vessels during the third quarter, a modern Supramax and two 90s built Panamax says Petros Pappas, Chief Executive Officer.
Net sales proceeds for completed vessels sales were approximately $27.9 million in Q3 and we also received approximately $3.8 million of gross sales, proceeds from the sale of an unlevered 90’s built Panamax and we expect 11 million in net equity proceeds from the transfer of a newbuilding which proceeds will be received in 2016.
"From the beginning of Q3, onwards we have increased our chartered coverage by chartering 12 vessels for an average period of 7.5 months. We’ve been able to reduce the cost of operating our fleet significantly during 2015, operating expenses are now excluding pre delivery expenses on the new buildings for Q3 were $4,237 per vessel per day, which is down 12% from the same period last year," he said.
The net cash G&A expense for the quarter continued to improve and was reduced to $1,097 per day per vessel, a reduction of 31.3% from last year's figures. These figures establish us as one of the lowest cost operators in the dry bulk industry.
"During the year, we've actively been negotiating with our shipyards and we have managed to agree on some measures that benefit the company’s liquidity. In Q3, we agreed to defer the delivery of four new building vessels from the fourth quarter of 2015 to 2016 preserving our liquidity and you know at some point increasing the vessel resale value as its going to be one year younger," says Petros Pappas.
In total, we’ve deferred $464 million of installments from 2015 into 2016 and shifted our new building vessel delivery schedule by an aggregate of 105 months across the fleet. And we continue to work with the yards to find measures that improve our liquidity in the near term, he added.
