Castor News

Castor Maritime announced it has reached deals to sell two bulk carrier vessels to entities owned by a family member of Castor Maritime's chairman, CEO and CFO, Petros Panagiotidis.Under separate agreements signed January 19, 2024, the Cyprus-based company sold the 2010-built Panamax bulk carriers Magic Nova and Magic Horizon for $16.1 million and $15.8 million respectively. Both vessels are expected to be delivered to their new owners by the end of the first quarter of 2024.The deals' terms were negotiated and approved by a committee of Castor Maritime's independent directors…

Survitec has announced a new interactive safety management solution it hopes will substantially improve onboard safety.The Safety Management and Rapid Response Technology Interface (SMARR-TI) uses a graphical monitoring interface to integrate fire detection and fire suppression systems within one system.SMARR-TI, which Survitec developed in cooperation with Turkish shipyard Tersan and Norway’s Havila Voyages, is already in operation on a pair of 15,500gt passenger ships.SMARR-TI…

Shipping company Castor Maritime announced it has completed its sale of a a 2007-built Panamax bulk carrier for $12.6 million. The company had revealed in March that it sold the 73,593 dwt Magic Rainbow to an undisclosed buyer.Nasdaq-listed Castor said it expects to record an approximately $4.4 million net gain on the sale, excluding transaction related costs.Castor owns a fleet of 20 vessels, with an aggregate capacity of 1.7 million dwt, currently consisting of one Capesize, seven Kamsarmax, 10 Panamax dry bulk vessels and two 2,700 TEU containerships.

Castor Maritime announced that on March 23, 2023, it entered into an agreement to sell a 2005-built Panamax bulk carrier to an undisclosed buyer for $13.95 million.The vessel, Magic Moon, is expected to be delivered to its new owner during the third quarter of 2023.Castor Maritime said it expects to record during the third quarter of 2023 a net gain of $5.3 million on the sale, excluding transaction related costs.

Shipping company Castor Maritime announced it has sold the 2007-built Panamax bulk carrier Magic Rainbow to an undisclosed buyer for $12.6 million.The 73,593 dwt vessel is expected to be delivered to its new owner during the second quarter of 2023.Nasdaq-listed Castor Maritime said it expects to record an approximately $4.4 million net gain on the sale, excluding transaction related costs.The deal remains subject to the execution of customary definitive documentation, the company added.Castor owns a fleet of 22 vessels, with an aggregate capacity of 1.7 million dwt, consisting of one Capesize, seven Kamsarmax and 12 Panamax dry bulk vessels, as well as 2 2,700 TEU containership.

Tanker operator AET announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Malaysia's PETCO Trading Labuan Company Ltd (PTLCL) to explore a potential collaboration to deploy a future zero-emission Aframax tanker powered by green ammonia.AET said it would be responsible for selecting a suitable shipyard to build the net zero-emission dual-fuel tanker, which would be delivered to PTLCL for long-term charter by 2026.The companies also intend to collaborate on the design…

France's TotalEnergies said it had joined a shipping project building test tankers which can be powered by ammonia, part of moves to speed up maritime industry decarbonization.Widely used in industrial applications, ammonia's suitability as a transport fuel has been limited because of the challenge of converting it into energy in a confined space. TotalEnergies is joining a subsidiary of Norwegian chemical company Yara International ASA, leading ship certifier Lloyd’s Register…

Bulk carrier and tanker owner Castor Maritime this week announced plans to spin off its tanker fleet into a new subsidiary called Toro.Nasdaq-listed Castor, which owns a fleet of 20 bulk carriers and eight tankers, said the newly formed Toro would act as the holding company for the tanker fleet comprising one Aframax, five Aframax/LR2 and two Handysize tankers.In the spin-off, Castor shareholders will receive two common shares of Toro for every five Castor common shares held at the close of business on December 6, 2022. Toro has applied to have its common shares listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. "The transaction is expected to enable each of Castor and Toro to increase its focus on its respective line of businesses…

Thai national energy company PTT and tanker operator AET have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the development and construction of two zero-emission Aframaxes to be powered by green ammonia.Jointly, PTT and AET working to encourage the use of green ammonia as a main propulsion fuel. AET will select a suitable shipyard and the two zero-emission dual-fuel tankers are to be delivered to PTT for long-term charters in Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 respectively.Disathat Panyarachun…

At least four supertankers are waiting to load Murban crude off Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates a week after floods shut operations at the oil hub, according to trade sources and shipping data on Refinitiv Eikon.Last Thursday, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said it had shut down its operations at Fujairah terminal due to "exceptional rainfall".The company had said it would divert Fujairah terminal oil lifting to the Jebel Dhanna terminal which can handle Murban shipments.However, supertankers are still waiting off Fujairah and it remains unclear when loading will resume, according to the sources and Refinitiv data.Two…

MISC Group’s President/Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), YBhg. Datuk Yee Yang Chien announced his plan to retire effective September 30, 2022. Datuk Yee will turn the helm over to Captain Rajalingam Subramaniam, MISC’s Chief Operating Officer and AET’s President & CEO, who will assume the role of MISC Group’s President/Group CEO effective October 1, 2022.Datuk Yee said, “It has been a great honour for me to be given the responsibility to lead MISC Group back in 2015. It is more than a job or duty for me…

Shipping company Castor Maritime on Monday announced it has lined up time charter contracts for three of its bulk carriers. The Magic Moon, a 2005 built Panamax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate of $25,500. The charter commenced on April 7, 2022, and has a duration of about 25 days.The Magic Rainbow, a 2007 built Panamax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate of $16,500. The charter commenced on April 12, 2022, and has a duration of about 60 days.The Magic Horizon, a 2010 built Panamax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate of $17,500. The charter commenced on April 15, 2022, and has a duration of about 55 days.

Shipping company Castor Maritime Inc. announced it has secured charter agreements for several of its bulk carriers. The Magic Moon, a 2005 built Panamax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate of $25,000. The charter commenced on March 6, 2022, and has a minimum duration of about 30 days.The Magic Argo, a 2009 built Kamsarmax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate equal to 103% of the average of the Baltic Panamax Index 5TC routes. The charter is expected to commence on April 4, 2022, and will have a minimum duration of twelve months and a maximum duration of fifteen months at the charterer’s option.The Magic Venus…

Electromotor Glitch Delays Havila Voyages' Castor Vessel DeliveryNorwegian coastal cruise shipping company Havila Voyages said Thursday that the first trip with its Havila Castor newbuild vessel would be delayed due to a technical problem with its electric motor. Havila Polaris and Havila Pollux start-ups are also expected to experience delays."The [Havila Castor] ship, which was due to start operating on April 7, is being built at the Tersan shipyard in Turkey, where it is currently unable to carry out sea trials due to challenges with an electric motor…

Royal Wagenborg renewed and extended Castor Marine’s Global Ku VSAT connection for multiple years.Since 1898 the Dutch family-owned shipping company has been crossing the oceans, evolving to a fleet operator with about 200 vessels. Besides the extension of 52 Global Ku VSAT contracts, Castor Marine will equip an additional 15 Wagenborg vessels, currently on 4G, with VSAT. For more than eight years the company has provided VSAT, Iridium, Inmarsat FBB, and IT services to the Wagenborg fleet.

Cyprus-based shipping company Castor Maritime Inc. announced it has secured new charter agreements for several of its bulk carrier vessels.The 2010-built Panamax dry bulk carrier Magic Nova has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate equal to 92% of the average of the Baltic Panamax Index 5TC routes. The charter commenced on November 17, 2021, and has a minimum duration of eleven months and a maximum duration of about fourteen months (+/- 15 days) at the charterer’s option.The 2006-built Capesize dry bulk carrier Magic Orion has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate equal to 101% of the average of the Baltic Capesize Index 5TC routes.

Cyprus-based shipping company Castor Maritime announced on Thursday that it has fixed two of its bulk carriers on time charter agreements. The 2006-built Capesize dry bulk carrier Magic Orion has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate of $73,000. The charter is expected to commence on or around October 8, 2021, and will have a duration of about 45 days.The Magic Eclipse, a 2011 built Panamax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate of $28,500. The charter commenced on September 14, 2021, and has a minimum duration of eight months and a maximum duration of ten months (+/- 15 days) at the charterer’s option.

Offshore installation and dredging contractor Jan De Nul Group has moved its entire fleet of 82 units to Castor Marine’s global VSAT and Iridium connectivity network on a long-term contract.Castor Marine will provide global VSAT internet and Iridium L-Band services to the entire fleet of almost 80 dredgers, offshore construction vessels, crane vessels, and (environmental) support vessels.Castor Marine said Tuesday it had migrated 98% of the fleet within 3 months after contract signing, with up to 6 migrations a day.

Castor Marine signed a reseller agreement with Tampnet, an offshore 4G LTE network operator in the North Sea, and immediately went to work for its first 4G Tampnet client: supply 4G LTE offshore connectivity to the WTW vessel Keizersborg.With this deal, Castor Marine is now an official Tampnet Activation Point, adding value to its customers’ operations. In the past, vessels supported by Castor Marine automatically switched to the VSAT connection of the company’s own network when moving outside of 4G coverage and vice versa.

Shipping company Castor Maritime has taken delivery of the M/V Magic Eclipse, the 2011 Japanese-built Panamax dry bulk vessel.The company, which owns a fleet of tankers and dry bulk carriers, announced the deal to acquire the vessel back on April 9, 2021. It at the time said it would pay $18.48 million for the vessel"The M/V Magic Eclipse acquisition was financed in its entirety with cash on hand," Castor Maritime said Wednesday."The M/V Magic Eclipse commenced employment today under a time charter contract at a daily gross charter rate of $26…

Cyprus-based shipping company Castor Maritime announced on Wednesday it has taken delivery of two newly acquired secondhand dry bulk carriers.On August 6, the company accepted delivery of the 2013 Japanese-built Panamax bulker Magic Pluto, which it had agreed to acquire as previously announced on May 17.On August 9, it took delivery of the Magic Perseus, the 2013 Japanese-built Kamsarmax bulk carrier, which it had agreed to acquire as previously announced on May 4.Both acquisitions were financed in their entirety with cash on hand…

Shipping company Castor Maritime on Monday announced a trio of new time charter agreements.The Magic Nebula, a 2010 built Kamsarmax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate of $31,750. The charter commenced on September 4, 2021, and has a minimum duration of six months and a maximum duration of eight months (+/- 15 days) at the charterer’s option.The Magic Moon, a 2005 built Panamax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate of $30,250. The charter commenced on August 31, 2021, and has a duration of about 90 days.The Magic Nova, a 2010 built Panamax dry bulk carrier…

Castor Maritime announced it has acquired a 2013 Japanese-built Kamsarmax dry bulk carrier for $21 million, marking the Cyprus-based shipping company's 18th vessel acquisition of 2021.Castor did not name the seller, but said it expects to take delivery of the vessel within the second quarter or beginning of the third quarter of this year.The Nasdaq-listed company has been swiftly expanding its dry bulk fleet, having bought three bulk carriers in 2020 and another 10 so far in 2021.