Belships has fixed another two bulkers on long-term contracts that will commence this quarter. The Oslo-listed owner of supramaxes and ultramaxes has fixed one of its bulkers for 11 to 13 months at a gross rate of $24,800 per day. Another Belships vessel has been chartered out for 21 to 24 months at a gross rate of $21,400 per day. Neither the specific vessels nor their respective charterers were identified.

CEO Lars Christian Skarsgard told TradeWinds that fixing more of the fleet on period employment is of strategic value to Belships. “During the past few months, we have actively sought to secure contract coverage. We think our stock is heavily undervalued and these cash flows efficiently de-risk our earnings proposition and secures our ability to pay out dividends,” he said. “I think we are now one of very few companies that have completed the necessary fleet modernization ahead of new regulations, so we can focus on returning value to shareholders. And these contracts contribute to achieving that.”

Belships said its total contract coverage for 2022 now stands at about 62% at an average daily rate of $22,900 net per vessel. Its fleet of 27 supramax and ultramax bulk carriers have a daily cash breakeven of around $10,500 per vessel. Belships resumed its quarterly distributions to shareholders last year and has paid dividends shareholders for the past two consecutive quarters.

Period deals for supramax and ultramax bulkers have been scant during 2022 so far, but the daily rate for Belships’ one-year contract is roughly in line with the last reported deal. Last week, Copenhagen-based operator Ultrabulk reportedly fixed Suisse-Atlantique’s 60,696-dwt ultramax St-Cergue (built 2017) for 11 to 13 months at a daily rate of $25,000. The vessel was delivered at Leixoes, Portugal last Wednesday and will redeliver in the Atlantic.

During the first week of this month, Eagle Bulk reportedly chartered Ningbo Zrich’s 53,208-dwt supramax Lagrange (built 2008) for three to five months at $25,000 per day from mid-January. Meanwhile, the current supramax spot market is undergoing a seasonal slowdown. Baltic Exchange panelists assessed the weighted-average spot rate for 10 key supramax routes at $19,006 per day on Monday, which is $231 lower than on Friday. The assessment has declined by 22% since January began, less than the decline in rates seen for the larger tonnages.

In the futures market for supramaxes, bids for the calendar year 2022 contract were around the $21,770-per-day level during the day’s trading on Monday. Bidding for 2023 paper was around $16,250 per day.