NewLead Holdings Ltd.announced today that the "Newlead Castellano", a 2013-built dry-bulk eco-type Handysize vessel of 35,542 dwt, was delivered to NewLead's owned fleet on September 16, 2014.
The Newlead Castellano is trading on the spot market and is expected to generate approximately $1.7 million EBITDA per year assuming $1.73 million yearly operating expenses.
The Newlead Castellano is the third modern eco-type Handysize vessel to be delivered to NewLead's owned fleet since January 2014. NewLead had agreed to acquire this vessel for a purchase price of $19.5 million in December 2013, as previously announced. The other two Handysize vessels, the Newlead Albion and the Newlead Venetico, both of which the Company had agreed to acquire in March 2014, for a total acquisition price of $37.0 million, were delivered on May 19, 2014 and July 25, 2014, respectively, as already announced.
Mr. Michael Zolotas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NewLead, stated, "We are pleased to announce the delivery of the Newlead Castellano as scheduled. This is the third modern and fuel efficient vessel to be delivered to NewLead's fleet in less than a year. Today, NewLead's fleet is completely transformed and optimized. We have expanded our fleet by 85.7%, from two vessels to five vessels in less than one year. Today, we have a total fleet of eight vessels, including three tanker vessels under management. The average fleet age of our owned vessels is 8.53 years, reduced from 18.5 years at the beginning of this year."
Michael Zolotas, added, "We are accelerating the execution of our strategy to rebuild our fleet while focusing on younger vessels to ensure a longer revenue capacity through extended employment lifetime. We continue to capture on opportunities to grow our fleet to establish a strong platform ready to benefit from market and industry opportunities."