SAFE Bulkers, the Cyprus-based bulk carrier owner, has confirmed it sold two ageing kamsarmaxes over the summer against the backdrop of an improving market.

“When the market moves up, you have an opportunity to sell at a higher price, which is what we did,” said company president Loukas Barmparis.

He said that selling the two oldest vessels in the fleet was “part of the company’s fleet renewal strategy”.

The 2007-built Pedhoulas Leader now Zheng Lin (IMO: 9323065) was sold for $12.5m and the 2006-built Pedhoulas Merchant now Yu Xiao 10 (IMO: 9279800) fetched a price of $11.5m.

Both Japanese-built bulkers have since been delivered to their buyers.

The fleet renewal programme is “aimed at improving environmental performance and maintaining competitiveness under an increasingly stringent regulatory environment”, the company said.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed owner of 45 bulkers on the water has an ongoing newbuilding programme running to 18 vessels, of which 12 have already been delivered.

Four of the six new kamsarmaxes still on order are scheduled for completion in 2026.

In addition, Safe Bulkers has carried out retrofitting of energy-saving devices on 24 existing vessels.

During the third quarter, the company entered into a $75m sustainability-linked, five-year credit facility secured by six vessels to refinance an existing facility that was due to mature in December 2026.

According to the owner, the loan agreement provides for adjustment of the interest margin based on independent verification of the company’s carbon intensity performance, measured against annual targets.

Safe Bulkers posted higher-than-expected earnings for the third quarter and significantly better numbers than in the first two quarters of the year, although still down from the same quarter of 2024.

Third-quarter net revenues decreased by about 3.7% to $73.1m, while net income decreased by 29% to $17.8m.

Average daily charter rates for the latest period reflected the improved market conditions with a significant rise compared with the preceding two quarters. An average daily hire of $15,507 still trailed a $17,108 average in the third quarter of 2024, however.

Adjusted for various one-off factors, net income came to $13.9m, or $0.15 per share, versus $19m and $0.16 per share in the year-ago quarter.

The adjusted earnings beat the consensus expectations of analysts by $0.2 per share.

Safe Bulkers declared an unchanged dividend of $0.05 per share for the quarter.