Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (Nasdaq: EGLE) today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to purchase a minimum of 6 and up to 9 Crown-63 Ultramax dry bulk sister vessels
for an aggregate price of $153M, assuming all 9 ships are transacted. The vessels, which range in age from 2 - 5 years, will be acquired from Greenship Bulk Trust, a company registered on the Norwegian OTC list. The agreement includes the outright acquisition of 6 vessels, with an additional 3 vessels contingent upon final approval from Greenship's unit holders.
Deliveries are anticipated to commence in April of this year.
Gary Vogel, Eagle Bulk's CEO, commented, "Eagle Bulk continues to execute on our fleet renewal and growth strategy, and today's announced acquisition affirms our ability to transact in a meaningful way. We are especially pleased that we were able to reach an agreement to purchase 6, and potentially 9, sister ships en bloc in a market where quality tonnage is difficult to find. We view this as a milestone transaction, as it can increase our number of vessels by over 20% while meaningfully advancing the build-out of our owner-operator business model."
Assuming the successful delivery of all 9 vessels, the Eagle Bulk fleet will consist of 50 owned vessels.