Diana Shipping has fixed a newcastlemax bulker to commercial manager C Transport Maritime at a rate that beats the paper market for the next two years. The Semiramis Paliou-led owner of 35 bulkers has chartered the 206,040-dwt Philadelphia (built 2012) to the Monaco-based firm at $26,000 per day to at least 1 February 2024. CTM has options to extend the contract, which commenced on Tuesday, until as late as 15 April 2024.

New York-listed Diana expects to make about $16.9m for the minimum scheduled period of the fixture. The daily rate exceeds the Baltic Exchange’s forward curve for capesize freight rates. As the market closed on Tuesday, the forward curve showed rates of just over $25,000 per day for conventional capesizes during the third quarter of this year and $21,873 per day for the calendar year 2023. Forward freight agreements (FFAs) for 2024 closed at $19,486 per day on Tuesday. Newcastlemax bulkers earn a premium to conventional capesize bulk carriers, based on their larger tonnage. That said, it did not require this premium for the Philadelphia fixture to easily trump the physical market for capesizes. The capesize 5TC, the weighted average spot rates across five key routes, picked up $22 per day on Wednesday to reach $11,350 per day.

The Philadelphia was previously fixed to George Economou’s Classic Maritime at $28,500 per day between April 2021 to March 2022, according to its website. In early March, Diana fixed the 181,500-dwt capesize Florida (built 2022) for five years to trader Bunge at $25,900 per day. The fixture, which was signed for at least 58 months and may be extended to 62 months, is expected to make at least $45m in revenue for Diana.