Belships has entered into agreements to sell and lease back BELLIGHT and BELFOREST on bareboat charters for 10 and 11.5 years, respectively. The agreements come with options to repurchase the vessels at below current market levels. There are no purchase obligations at the end of the agreements. The lease agreements have fixed interest rates for the entire period with an average cost of capital of about 4.4 per cent. Net cash effect upon delivery will be about USD 14.0 million in total. Delivery into the new bareboat agreements is expected within Q1 2022. These agreements signal the competitive advantage Belships has in sourcing ship finance.
Belships has a uniform and modern fleet of bulk carriers well positioned to capitalise on a strong dry bulk market. The Belships fleet consists of 27 Supra/Ultramax bulk carriers, with an average age of below 4 years and average cash breakeven of about USD 10 500. Our strategy is to develop Belships as an owner and operator of geared bulk carriers, through quality of operations and pursue accretive growth opportunities for the purpose of maximising shareholder value. Based on current market expectations, we expect to generate significant free cash flow and aim to pay quarterly dividends as announced with our dividend policy.
