Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership and operation of dry bulk vessels, has signed, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, a Memorandum of Agreement, to acquire a new-building Post-Panamax dry bulk carrier of 98,697 dwt, built by Tsuneishi Group (Zhoushan) Shipbuilding Inc., from a third party seller for a purchase price of $25m. The vessel, to be named "Amphitrite", is expected to be delivered to the company by the sellers in mid-August 2012.
Including the aforementioned vessel Diana Shipping Inc.'s fleet currently consists of 29 dry bulk carriers (17 Panamax, 2 Post-Panamax, 8 Capesize and 2 Newcastlemax), as well as 2 new-building Ice Class Panamax vessels expected to be delivered to the Company during the fourth quarter of 2013. As of today, the combined carrying a capacity of our current fleet, excluding the three vessels not yet delivered, is 3.2 million dwt with a weighted average age of 5.9 years.