The transaction will result in a net cash gain of $27m and an equity gain of $13m, which will be reported in the second quarter of the year results

TOP Ships has agreed a price of $18m for the scrubber-fitted vessels, to be paid in installments, but it intends to finance them prior to delivery in 2021

The company is more confident about an improving market and would like to keep its vessels in the spot market

Besides sales being harder to conclude, the coronavirus is also making operations more complicated, with crew changes the most concerning, chief executive Paolo d’Amico tells Lloyd’s List

The transaction, which closed in March, leaves the company with ‘no significant debt maturities’ until 2023

The chairman of Tomini Group has learnt during 40 years in the dry cargo business that a long-term approach and a sensitivity to the cyclical nature of shipping can, and does, pay dividends

The company has shed a substantial boxship fleet in the past three years and has acquired four aframax tankers.

Spot rates have dropped by as much as 10% during the past week and have lost half their value since the start of April

While neither the buyer nor the sale price were disclosed, broker valuations peg a 15-year-old very large crude carrier at about $36m