It's eight months into the year and Performance Shipping Inc. has kept its favorite banker, Maxim Group busy raising equity for the business. Back in May, Maxim raised $8 million through an underwritten public offering of 7.62 million units at a price of $1.05/unit.

Everyone knows that debt capital is in short supply and expensive. The banks have pulled in their horns, victims of loan losses and regulators. After shipping issuance peaked in 2017, the Norwegian bond market turned back to oil and gas, reflecting the latter’s improving fortunes.

Earlier this month, Dorian LPG Ltd. reported its Q1 2022 financial results. The highlights from our perspective were the declaration of its fourth “irregular” dividend and the refinancing of the major commercial bank/ECA credit facility which was used to finance its newbuilding program back in 2015 (“2015 AR Facility”).

While some may prioritize optimizing debt, others simply seek to minimize it. Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (“Genco”) lives by its comprehensive value strategy which is focused on three key elements: significant dividends, deleveraging, and growth.

Last week, Diana Shipping Inc. announced that it had entered into two sale and leaseback agreements with two Japanese lessors for two 2015-built Capesize dry bulk carriers, the m/v New Orleans, and the m/v Santa Barbara. According to Vessels Value, the two bulk carriers are worth $38.87 million and $35.83 million respectively or a total of $74.70 million.

Last week, Diana Shipping Inc. announced that it had agreed to acquire nine modern Ultramax dry bulk carriers built between 2015 and 2018 from Sea Trade Holdings Inc. (“Sea Trade”), an unaffiliated third party, with deliveries expected to occur during the fourth quarter of 2022.

Back in December, GasLog Ltd. announced that it ordered four newbuild 174,000 cubic meter LNG carriers with the latest generation MEGI propulsion from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. for delivery in 2024 and 2025.

Following the adage of never putting all your eggs in one basket, Greek shipowners have a predilection to seemingly having as many shipping loans as they do ships.

In Q2 2022, Wallenius Wilhelmsen ASA (“WalWil”) put its plans into action. Earlier this year, the company published its sustainability-linked financing framework, in which the group committed to reducing its CO₂ intensity by 27.5% from 2019 to 2030, including interim CO₂ intensity targets for each year from 2022-2030.

In a move to consolidate its debt, International Seaways Operating Corporation (“ISOC”) back in May entered into a $750 Million Credit Facility consisting of (i) a five-year $530 million senior secured term loan facility (“Term Loan”) and (ii) a five-year $220 million revolving credit facility (“Revolving Loan”).

Back in June, Knausen Holding LLC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Global Ship Lease (“GSL”), successfully closed on the private placement of $350.0 million of privately rated/investment grade 5.69% Senior Secured Notes due 2027 (the “2027 USPP Notes”) to a limited number of accredited investors.

We believe that the shipping industry will go through significant changes over the next several years as global trade reacts to the supply chain issues of the past two years, and that the global economy and financial markets are in a period of transition, in part due to the effects of the global COVID pandemic.