Seanergy Maritime Holdings’ earnings have grown by almost six times in a capesize bulker sector that saw the highest rates in more than a decade. The New York-listed capesize owner on Tuesday reported a $20.1m net profit for the third quarter, compared to $3.6m in net earnings for the same period of last year.

Seanergy’s fleet of 17 capesizes earned an average time-charter equivalent (TCE) rate of $30,764 per day during the three months, surpassing last year’s third-quarter TCE earnings by 90%. This caused the shipowner’s revenue to skyrocket by 146% to $50m during the three months, compared to a year ago. “I am very excited to announce our financial results for the third quarter and nine-month period that ended on September 30, 2021, marking a record profit for Seanergy since we started acquiring our current fleet in 2015,” chief executive Stamatis Tsantanis said in a statement.

“The exceptional financial performance of our company is attributed to the combination of the well-timed acquisitions that we executed in the past year, as well as the highest dry bulk market of the last decade.” The Greek shipowner has acquired seven Japanese-built, second-hand capesizes this year for $193m while selling one. The acquisitions have boosted the value of Seanergy’s fleet by 55% to $397m.

Tsantanis said Seanergy is “confident about the prospects of the capesize market for years to come“, given a spot-rate average of $87,000 per day just weeks ago, a very low orderbook and high demand for dry commodities. “The capesize orderbook still stands at the lowest level of the last 25 years and the upcoming environmental regulations are expected to lead to a significant vessel supply squeeze in the following years,” he said.

For the first nine months of 2021, Seanergy posted a $20.7m profit versus a $16m net loss for the same stage in 2020. Revenue came in at $100m against $43.5m a year earlier.

Seanergy’s shares were trading at $1.08 on the New York Stock Exchange as of mid-morning in the city on Tuesday, down by 4% since the market opened. A rout has been seen across all dry-bulk equities.