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Amidst the clamoring for share buybacks, Safe Bulkers Inc. veered off today's traditional capital allocation choice and acquired a new vessel as part of its fleet renewal program.

Last week, Nordic American Tankers Ltd ("NAT") announced that it had concluded the financing of the two Suezmax tankers it had ordered back in September. Under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries, the two vessels have a cargo carrying capacity of 158,000 DWT and are scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2022.

The leaders of the shipping industry came together at Marine Money Virtual Ship Finance Week. The event, held in conjunction with United Nations Climate Week, focused on all aspects of ESG, including gender equality, seafarer's rights (including the current crew repatriation crisis), the role of corporate boards, and, of course, decarbonization.

It has certainly been awhile. Last week, PAO Sovcomflot announced its intention to conduct an initial public offering and list its shares on the Moscow Exchange.

Dissecting the top movers.

Standing pat is not an option for Scorpio Bulkers Inc. but that comes with a trader's mentality. Buying the shares of its affiliate, Scorpio Tankers, was a striking move but does not come close to the decision, announced August 3rd, to liquidate its bulk carrier fleet to enter the offshore wind industry with the acquisition of a Wind Turbine Installation Vessel with options for an additional three vessels.

Last week, Seaspan Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atlas Corp., announced the closing of its sustainability-linked loan ("SLL"), the first of its kind in the containership leasing industry.

Despite a weak economy, trade wars and a pandemic, Seaspan Corporation continues to execute on its growth strategy adding a total of 15 high-quality vessels to its fleet since December of 2019. In the latest acquisition, the company purchased two high-quality 12,000 TEU containerships constructed in 2018 for approximately $176 million in cash.

We dissect the data.

Setting the stage, announcing the winners, and reams of data.

As a creature of habit, we confess that change is discomfiting and our capacity to pivot limited. Still, as our title suggests, we need to accept change and evolve. Frankly, with our raison d'être being shipping, our environmental focus has been on new propulsion systems and alternative fuels.

Bringing its previously announced share repurchase program to its conclusion, Danaos Corporation, last week, announced that it had repurchased 4,339,271 shares of its common stock, representing 17.5% of the shares outstanding as of March 1, 2020, for an aggregate purchase price of $31.1 million in privately negotiated transactions.

We often try to make things more complicated than they are, but more often than not there is a simple explanation. Thankfully, we asked the question.

The $1 billion difference.

While it has not yet come to that point, Ardmore Shipping's shares, like its peers, have been trading, over the past six months, at price levels which reflect a significant discount to net asset value ("NAV").

The creative minds on Wall Street have been manufacturing new financial products for decades. In the old days it was things like "no load" mutual funds, ETFs, the 60/40 allocation, and MLPs. These days it's stuff like Fractional shares, Single Stock Notes, commission free trading, self-directed equity offerings, and all manner of ESG strategies.

In a meeting of the minds, Hoegh LNG Holdings Ltd and its bond investors last week took the opportunity to each improve their positions with respect to the company's HLNG03 bond which matures in February 2022 and bears interest at 3-month NIBOR+5%. The transaction was triggered by a reverse enquiry from an investor with Hoegh LNG agreeing to exchange NOK 150 million from the existing HLNG03 into NOK 160.5 million of its HLNG04 bond which was issued in January of this year.

Last week, Navios Maritime Holdings Inc.("Navios Holdings") announced that it had sold the Navios Gem, a 181,336 dwt Capesize bulk carrier built in Imabari in 2014, and the Navios Victory, a 77,095 Panamax bulk carrier built at Koyo Dock also in 2014 toNavios Maritime Partners L.P.("Navios Partners") for a sale price of$51.0 million en bloc, subject to working capital adjustments.

If we had only bought the shares.

These are some of the most difficult times the world has experienced. Covid-19 remains with us and there is a fear of a second wave of infections as winter approaches. Economies have faltered, although you would not know that from the stock market where the rich get richer, and unemployment is at record levels.