Diana Shipping announces the establishment of a new joint venture with Wilhelmsen Ship Management
Diana Shipping Inc., a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, and Wilhelmsen Ship Management (“WSM”) announced that they have established a new 50/50 joint venture named Diana Wilhelmsen Management Limited (“DWM”). Diana Wilhelmsen Management Limited will initially provide management services to a limited number of vessels of Diana Shipping’s fleet when the joint venture commences operations later in the second quarter of this year and may in the future provide management services to unaffiliated third party vessel operators. The DWM office will be located in Limassol, Cyprus.
Diana Shipping Inc. is a leading global provider of shipping transportation services through its ownership of dry bulk vessels. The Company’s vessels are employed primarily on medium to long-term time charters and transport a range of dry bulk cargoes, including such commodities as iron ore, coal, grain and other materials along worldwide shipping routes. Diana Shipping Inc.’s fleet currently consists of 40 dry bulk vessels (2 Newcastlemax, 12 Capesize, 3 Post-Panamax, 3 Kamsarmax and 20 Panamax). The Company also expects to take delivery of one Kamsarmax dry bulk vessel during the second quarter of 2015, one new-building Capesize dry bulk vessel during August 2015, two new-building Newcastlemax dry bulk vessels and one new-building Kamsarmax dry bulk vessel during the second quarter of 2016. As of today, the combined carrying capacity of the Company’s fleet, excluding the five vessels not yet delivered, is approximately 4.6 million dwt with a weighted average age of 7.1 years.