CAPESIZE bulk carrier owner Seanergy Maritime is not ruling out further secondhand vessel purchases in the coming months, but is eschewing newbuilding orders, executives have said.

“We have taken the strategic decision that we will not move for now in newbuildings,” said chief executive Stamatis Tsantanis.

He said that management was sceptical about shipbuilding contracts “because we’re not convinced that the new vessels actually offer any tremendous improvement versus the existing ones” in terms of environmental benefits.

Nasdaq-listed Seanergy has installed energy-saving devices and telemetry across its existing fleet.

He also said that the current dry bulk market and forward market projected earnings of $20,000-$23,000 per day did not justify an investment of about $75m in a newbuilding that would have a higher daily breakeven.

“So we invest on the existing ships and we make them more economical,” Tsantanis told analysts during a third-quarter earnings call.

“We have done a number of improvements. There is a big spectrum of things that we do to improve our ships,” he said. “We are very happy with the results so far.”

Seanergy would “continue to explore strategic opportunities for disciplined growth”, aiming for well-timed acquisitions that would maximise long-term returns, he said.

In the same call, chief financial officer Stavros Gyftakis reiterated the company’s openness to further acquisitions. He said that “there might be one or two ships” announced within the fourth quarter or the first quarter of 2025.

But Seanergy also intended to keep a very healthy balance sheet, he added.

In June, the company took delivery of a 2013-built vessel that has been renamed Iconship (IMO: 9641895) and chartered to Costamare Bulkers for 22 months.

Last month, it took delivery of a 2012-built bulker, renamed Kaizenship (IMO: 9624445), that has been chartered to Mitsui OSK Lines until the second half of 2025.

The latest acquisition brought the fleet to 19 large bulkers.

Last month also saw the Greece-based owner exercise a purchase option on the 2011-built chartered-in newcastlemax vessel Titanship (IMO: 9603362), that has been chartered to Costamare Bulkers for 24-30 months.

The 207,855 dwt vessel was purchased under the option for an “amazing” price of $20.2m compared with a current market value exceeding $35m, Tsantanis said.

Because Seanergy paid an estimated 60%-65% of the market value it was able to finance the entire amount with a new $34m loan from Alpha Bank that also enabled refinancing of indebtedness on another vessel in the fleet.

Seanergy saw a “very favourable” balance between supply and demand for the capesize market in the years ahead, according to Tsantanis.

The company expected zero or negative growth in vessel supply next year due to a “very limited” orderbook and also expectations of a heavy schedule of dry docking as many capesizes reached 15 years of age and required a special survey.

“We expect to see a lot of tonnage entering the dry docks starting after the Chinese New Year and thereafter, so there will be a lot of tonnage unavailable for a big part of the year,” he said. “At the same time, demand appears to be quite strong.”

Seanergy posted vastly improved third-quarter results with net income of $12.5m versus last year’s quarterly net loss of $5m.

Third-quarter net revenues increased by 81% to $44.4m as daily time charter equivalent earnings for the fleet averaged $26,529, about 7% higher than the Baltic Cape Index’s performance during the quarter.

The owner posted a record nine-month net profit of $36.8m as revenues increased to $125.8m, from $70.8m in the same period of 2023.

During the earnings call, Tsantanis also claimed vindication in a shareholder battle with Greek shipping tycoon George Economou who began acquiring Seanergy shares last year and built up a 9.5% stake in the company.

Tsantanis said that shareholders had shown “resounding support” for management at its annual general meeting held earlier this week.

Two board members were re-elected while Economou’s proposal to demand Tsantanis’ resignation was defeated.