Belships ASA: Acquisition of three new Ultramax bulk carriers

27 Feb 2023 22:13 CET

Belships has entered into agreements for the acquisition of three new 64 000
Ultramax bulk carriers which are being constructed at Japanese shipyards.
Delivery of each vessel is expected in Q4 2024,  Q4 2025 and Q1 2026. The
vessels are fully financed through time charter lease agreements, each for a
period of 7 up to 10 years, with purchase options at current market levels
during the charter. There is no obligation to purchase the vessels. Belships is
not required to make any down payment for this transaction. Cash breakeven for
the vessels upon delivery will be about USD 14 000 per day. The agreements are
conditional upon certain steps to be completed by the parties involved.

Belships will be taking over new vessels whilst the orderbook and supply side
approaches the lowest levels seen in 30 years. New Japanese-design Ultramax bulk
carriers represent the highest quality and lowest fuel consumption available in
the market today.

"We are able to increase our fleet without investing any cash, this will
therefore not affect our dividend capacity in the near future. We also believe
the best way for us to approach the green shift is to acquire the most efficient
vessels available and pair it with a financing structure which gives us a bridge
to the future with optionality and flexibility" said Belships CEO, Lars
Christian Skarsgård.

Belships ASA is a fully integrated owner and operator of geared bulk carriers.
Including announced transactions, the owned fleet will consist of 34
Supra/Ultramax bulk carriers with an average of about 4 years. Lighthouse
Navigation, a subsidiary of Belships, is a dry bulk operator with offices in
Oslo, Bangkok, Singapore and Melbourne. Based on current market expectations, we
expect to generate significant free cash flow and aim to pay quarterly dividends
as announced with our dividend policy.

For further information, please contact Lars Christian Skarsgård, Belships CEO,
phone +47 977 68 061 or e-mail LCS@belships.no (mailto:LCS@belships.no)

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section
5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act

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