NewLead Holdings announces contract of affreightment for Newlead Markela
NewLead Holdings Ltd. announced today that it has entered into a Contract of Affreightment for one of its dry bulk vessels, the Panamax Newlead Markela, for the transportation, anticipated to be completed within a twelve month period, of approximately 704,000 tons of aggregates over eleven consecutive voyages, the company said in its press release.
The Newlead Markela will be trading in the Arabian Gulf and the first shipment is scheduled to commence during March 2015.
Mr. Michael Zolotas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NewLead, stated, "We have succeeded in securing solid employment of the Newlead Markela for the year 2015 while the dry bulk market is at historical lows. We intend to capitalize on our strong commercial relationships with charterers and trading companies to capture trading opportunities despite unfavorable market conditions in the dry bulk sector. We continue to optimize the employment of our fleet and enhance the revenues and cash flow of the Company."
Mr. Zolotas added, "Our strategy for 2015 is to continue to grow our fleet while taking advantage of market opportunities."
Newlead has approximately 43.2% and 45.4% of its operating days covered for 2015 for the dry bulk and tanker vessels, respectively, with the Newlead Victoria and the Nepheli on a period time charter until June 2018 and July 2015, respectively, and the rest of the Company's fleet trading on the spot market.
