Scorpio Bulkers agrees to sales of five more ships

Emanuele A. Lauro, Chairman and CEO, Scorpio Bulkers

Emanuele A. Lauro led Scorpio Bulkers Inc. (NYSE: SALT) is continuing to sell off bulkers as it eyes a future in offshore wind farm installation. Yesterday it reported that it had entered into agreements with two unaffiliated third parties to sell the SBI Parapara, SBI Jive, SBI Swing and SBI Mazurka, Kamsarmax bulk carriers built in 2017, and SBI Reggae, a Kamsarmax bulk carrier built in 2016, for approximately $101.5 million in aggregate.

The company has recently sold five vessels and has now contracted to sell eight additional vessels, three of which are expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020 and five of which are expected to close in the first half of 2021. On completion of the announced vessel sales, Scorpio Bulkers will have an operating fleet of 41 vessels consisting of 36 wholly-owned or finance leased drybulk vessels (including 8 Kamsarmax vessels and 28 Ultramax vessels), and five time chartered-in Kamsarmax vessels.

Back in August, the company announced it had signed a letter of intent (LOI) with South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Inc, covering the construction of a large Wind Turbine Installation Vessel (WTIV) with options for three additional vessels.