For TBS International
The strategy appears to be paying dividends, though not literally. Unlike high yielders Diana Shipping
While the fleet has grown meaningfully since TBS' 2005 IPO, last year was all about higher freight rates. That's because it was a particularly shipyard-heavy year, with more than 1,000 ship days tied up by upgrade and maintenance activity. TBS thus averaged only 33 ships operating for the year, the same as 2006. With average daily rates up more than 60% compared to 2006, though, the sparks still flew. Revenue rose 40%, and the bottom line ballooned over 150%.
TBS' fleet composition is a key differentiator, and this gets back to the matter of customer relationships. A lot of ports don't have the capacity to handle huge Capesize vessels, and plenty of customers have cargoes that can't be containerized but also don't require an entire vessel's capacity. TBS meets these needs by offering up a mix of smaller dry bulk carriers and what are known as tweendeckers. The latter, which are sort of like seaworthy double-decker buses, offer unique flexibility in moving a great variety of cargo items.
Not a lot of tweendeckers have been built in the last two decades, so TBS appears to have carved out defensible market share by grabbing a good amount of these special vessels and targeting underserved "problem cargo" markets. Like Excel Maritime
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- More musings on the incredible bulk.