Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call May 28, 2024 9:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Ed Nebb - Investor Relations
Semiramis Paliou - Chief Executive Officer
Ioannis Zafirakis - Director, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Strategy Officer
Stasi Margaronis - Director & President
Operator
Hello, and welcome to the Diana Shipping Inc. First Quarter 2024 Conference Call and Webcast. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.
It's now my pleasure to turn the call over to Ed Nebb, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Ed.
Ed Nebb
Thank you, Kevin, and thanks to everyone who is joining us for the Diana Shipping Inc. 2024 first quarter conference call.
Leading the call today is Semiramis Paliou, Chief Executive Officer, and she will now introduce the other members of the management team. So, I will turn the call over to Ms. Palious.
Semiramis Paliou
Thank you, Ed. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Diana Shipping Inc.'s first quarter 2024 financial results conference call.
As Ed said, I am Semiramis Paliou, the CEO of the company. And it's my pleasure to present alongside our esteemed team, Mr. Stasi Margaronis, Director and President; Mr. Ioannis Zafirakis, Director, CFO and Chief Strategy Officer; Mr. Eleftherios Papatrifon, Director; and Ms. Maria Dede, Chief Accounting Officer.
Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone to review the forward-looking statements on Page 4 of the accompanying presentation.
The first quarter of 2024 started unusually strong with Capesize earnings being the highest in 14 years and pulling along the other sectors. Even though the market has softened since, the sentiment is still strong for the balance of the year. In this background, we announced a cash dividend for the first quarter of 2024 of [$0.75] (ph) per common share.
Turning to Slide 5, I will review with you the company's snapshot as of today. Our fleet comprises of 39 dry bulk vessels in the water with a total deadweight of approximately 4.4 million tons. The company is also expecting to take delivery of two methanol dual fuel new-building Kamsarmax dry bulk vessels. Our fleet utilization has remained consistently high, reaching 99.1% for the first quarter of 2024, attributed to our prudent and efficient management of our vessels. Additionally, as of the end of March, we employed 993 people at sea and the shore.
Moving on to Slide 6. Let's go over the key highlights for the first quarter and recent developments. In February 2024, the company executed the contract for the acquisition of two 81,200 deadweight methanol dual fuel new-building Kamsarmax dry bulk vessels, built at Tsuneishi Group for a purchase price of US$46 million each. These vessels are expected to be delivered to the company in the second half of 2027 and the first half of 2028, respectively.