EuroDry Ltd. is a provider of worldwide ocean-going transportation services.
The company owns and operates drybulk carriers that transport major bulks such as iron ore, coal and grains, and minor bulks such as bauxite, phosphate and fertilizers. As of March 31, 2024, the company’s fleet consisted of 13 drybulk carriers (comprising five Panamax drybulk carriers, two Kamsarmax, five Ultramax drybulk carriers and one Supramax drybulk carrier), all of which are in operation. The total cargo carryin...
EuroDry Ltd. is a provider of worldwide ocean-going transportation services.
The company owns and operates drybulk carriers that transport major bulks such as iron ore, coal and grains, and minor bulks such as bauxite, phosphate and fertilizers. As of March 31, 2024, the company’s fleet consisted of 13 drybulk carriers (comprising five Panamax drybulk carriers, two Kamsarmax, five Ultramax drybulk carriers and one Supramax drybulk carrier), all of which are in operation. The total cargo carrying capacity of the company’s 13 drybulk carriers is 918,502 dwt.
The company’s fleet consists of drybulk carriers that transport iron ore, coal, grain and other dry cargoes along worldwide shipping routes.
Fleet
The company plans to expand its fleet by investing in vessels in the drybulk market under favorable market conditions. The company employs its vessels in the spot and time charter market and through pool arrangements. As of April 15, 2024, twelve of the company’s vessels were employed under time charter contracts and one is in dry-docking passing her special survey.
As of April 15, 2024, approximately 16.0% of the company’s ship capacity days for the remainder of 2024 are under contract.
Business Strategy
The company’s business strategy is focused on providing consistent shareholder returns by carefully selecting the timing and the structure of the company’s investments in drybulk vessels and by reliably, safely and competitively operating the vessels the company owns, through its affiliates, Eurobulk (Eurobulk Ltd.) and Eurobulk FE (Eurobulk (Far East) Ltd. Inc.) (collectively, ‘Managers’). The company continuously evaluates purchase and sale opportunities, as well as long term employment opportunities for the company’s vessels. Key elements of the above strategy are to renew and expand the company’s fleet; and employ the company’s fleet on either longer term time charters, i.e. charters with duration of more than a year, or shorter term time/spot charters.
Customers
The company has well-established relationships with major dry bulk charterers, which the company serves by carrying a variety of cargoes over a multitude of routes around the globe. The company’s major charterer customers during 2023 included Quadra, Tongli, Ultrabulk, Amaggi and OLAM amongst others. The company is a relationship driven company. The company’s top five customers accounted for approximately 52% of the company’s revenues in 2023. In 2023, Amaggi and Tongli accounted for 17% and 16% of the company’s revenues, respectively.
Competition
Eurobulk arranges the company’s charters (whether spot charters, time charters or shipping pools) through Eurochart S.A. (‘Eurochart’), an affiliated brokering company which negotiates the terms of the charters based on market conditions. Some of the company’s publicly listed competitors include Diana Shipping Inc., Genco Shipping and Trading Limited, Navios Maritime Partners Inc., Star Bulk Carriers Corp., Safe Bulkers, Inc., and Globus Maritime Limited.
Environmental and Other Regulations in the Shipping Industry
A variety of government and private entities subject the company’s vessels to both scheduled and unscheduled inspections. These entities include the local port authorities (applicable national authorities such as the USCG), harbor master or equivalent), classification societies, flag state administrations (countries of registry) and charterers, particularly terminal operators. Certain of these entities require the company to obtain permits, licenses, certificates and other authorizations for the operation of the company’s vessels.
In September of 1997, the IMO adopted Annex VI to MARPOL to address air pollution from vessels. Effective May 2005, Annex VI sets limits on sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from all commercial vessel exhausts and prohibits ‘deliberate emissions’ of ozone depleting substances (such as halons and chlorofluorocarbons), emissions of volatile compounds from cargo tanks, and the shipboard incineration of specific substances. Annex VI also includes a global cap on the sulfur content of fuel oil and allows for special areas to be established with more stringent controls on sulfur emissions, as explained below. Emissions of ‘volatile organic compounds’ from certain vessels, and the shipboard incineration (from incinerators installed after January 1, 2000) of certain substances (such as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs) are also prohibited. All the company’s vessels are compliant in all material respects with these regulations.
The SOLAS Convention was amended to address the safe manning of vessels and emergency training drills. The Convention of Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (the ‘LLMC’) sets limitations of liability for a loss of life or personal injury claim or a property claim against ship owners. The company’s vessels are in substantial compliance with SOLAS and LLMC standards.
Under Chapter IX of the SOLAS Convention, or the International Safety Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (the ‘ISM Code’), the company’s operations are also subject to environmental standards and requirements. The company relies upon the safety management system that the company and its technical management team have developed for compliance with the ISM Code.
The company has obtained applicable documents of compliance for its offices and safety management certificates for all of the company’s vessels for which the certificates are required by the IMO. All the company’s vessels are ISM Code-certified.
Furthermore, recent action by the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee and United States agencies indicates that cybersecurity regulations for the maritime industry are likely to be further developed in the near future in an attempt to combat cybersecurity threats. By IMO resolution, administrations are encouraged to ensure that cyber-risk management systems are incorporated by ship-owners and managers by their first annual Document of Compliance audit after January 1, 2021. In February 2021, the U.S. Coast Guard published guidance on addressing cyber risks in a vessel’s safety management system. This might cause companies to create additional procedures for monitoring cybersecurity, which could require additional expenses and/or capital expenditures. To comply with these regulations, the company developed a Cybersecurity Manual for all the company’s vessels that was reviewed by IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee in March 2021.
In 2001, the IMO adopted the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships, or the ‘Anti-fouling Convention.’ The company has obtained Anti-fouling System Certificates for all of the company’s vessels that are subject to the Anti-fouling Convention.
As of the date of this annual report, each of the company’s vessels is ISM Code certified. Both OPA (the U.S. Oil Pollution Act of 1990) and CERCLA (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act) impact the company’s operations.
The company complies with the USCG’s financial responsibility regulations by providing applicable certificates of financial responsibility.
The EPA and the USCG have also enacted rules relating to ballast water discharge, compliance with which requires the installation of equipment on the company’s vessels to treat ballast water before it is discharged or the implementation of other port facility disposal arrangements or procedures at potentially substantial costs, and/or otherwise restrict the company’s vessels from entering the U.S. Waters.
The International Labour Organization (the ‘ILO’) is a specialized agency of the UN that has adopted the Maritime Labor Convention 2006 (‘MLC 2006’). A Maritime Labor Certificate and a Declaration of Maritime Labor Compliance is required to ensure compliance with the MLC 2006 for all ships that are 500 gross tonnage or over and are either engaged in international voyages or flying the flag of a Member and operating from a port, or between ports, in another country. All the company’s vessels are in substantial compliance with and are certified to meet MLC 2006.
The company’s vessels are classed with Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, Bureau Veritas, Rina, DNV and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai. ISM and ISPS certification have been awarded by Bureau Veritas and the Liberian Flag Administration to the company’s vessels and its Managers.
Vessel Acquisitions & Partnership
During 2023, the company acquired three Ultramax drybulk vessels. On September 8, 2023, the company agreed to acquire M/V Yannis Pittas a 63,177 dwt drybulk vessel built in 2014, M/V Christos K, a 63,197 dwt drybulk vessel built in 2015 and M/V Maria, a 63,153 dwt drybulk vessel built in 2015 from unrelated third parties. The company took delivery of each vessel on October 10, 2023, October 25, 2023 and November 6, 2023, respectively.
On October 26, 2023, the company formed a partnership with a number of investors represented by NRP Project Finance AS (‘NRP Investors’) regarding the ownership of M/V Christos K and M/V Maria (‘Partnership’), whereby NRP Investors acquired a non-controlling interest of 39% ownership in the respective limited partnership entities, Chistos Ultra LP (owner of M/V Christos K) and Maria Ultra LP (owner of M/V Maria), with the company holding the remaining 61% controlling interest.
History
EuroDry Ltd. was founded in 2018. The company was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act of the Marshall Islands (BCA) in 2018.
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