Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp.

Thank you for standing by ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Synergy Maritime Holdings Corp conference call on the third quarter ended September 30th 2023 financial results. We have with us Mr. Stamatis Santanis Chairman and CEO and Mr. Stavros Giftakis Chief Financial Officer of Synergy Maritime Holdings Corp. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. There will be a question and answer session at which time If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 1 on your telephone keypad and you will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. Please be advised that this conference call is being recorded today, Tuesday, November 14th, 2023. The archived webcast of the conference call will soon be made available on the Synergy website, www.synergymaritime.com. Many of the remarks today contain forward-looking statements, based on current expectations. Actual results may differ materially from the results projected from those forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that can use the actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the third quarter ended September 30th, 2023 earnings release, which is available on the Synergy website again, www.synergymaritime.com. I would now like to turn the conference of it to one of your speakers today, the chairman and CEO of the company, Mr. Stamatis Santanis. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, operator. Hello.

I would like to welcome everyone to our conference call. Today we are presenting the financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2023, while also announcing the distribution of another cash dividend. Starting with our commercial performance, I am pleased to report that in the third quarter, Synergy achieved a daily time chart equivalent rate of $15,300, once again overperforming the Baltic Hips as indexed by around 14%. This is a result of our strategic investment in improving the energy efficiency of our fleet, where the majority of our ships is obtaining premiums over the index, as well as our effective hedging strategy where we locked in about 30% of our fleet in fixed rates exceeding $20,000 a day. Concerning the performance of the Cape size market, despite the strong demand for seaborne transportation of iron ore, coal and bauxite in the first nine months of the year, congestion stood at historical low levels. Therefore, vessel utilization improved, expanding the effective fleet supply, which in turn has put severe pressure on the spot market. As congestion found bottom In July and August, the increased cargo flows resulted in significant supply tightness, which led to a recovery in day rates to levels exceeding $30,000 per day in October. Having entered the fourth quarter with 70% of our days taking advantage of the higher market, we are well positioned to benefit from the recent recovery of our sector. Notwithstanding the overall weak Cape market conditions, which impacted our financial results for the quarter, our cash reserves remain at satisfactory levels. On that basis, our board of directors has approved another consistent quarterly cash dividend of 2.5 cents per share. Regarding fleet developments, on October 24th, we took delivery of our first Newcastle Max vessel, which was renamed Titan Ship. The vessel was acquired through a 12-month bare-boat structure with a purchase option for synergy at the end of the charter. The vessel commenced an index-linked employment with a first-class charter for a period of about one year at a substantial premium over the Baltic Cape Size Index. This is actually the highest premium achieved by any vessel of our fleet. The addition of the Titan ship will further strengthen our ability to overperform the Cape Size Index. Combined with its attractive acquisition price, it will likely produce higher returns on capital. In terms of other commercial developments, we have extended various existing time charters of our vessels, while more and more ships get the increased benefit of the scrubber equipment installed in 2019 without us paying for it. Similarly, within 2024, we expect more vessels to enjoy improvements in the profit-sharing terms on their employment, which would provide an additional tailwind to our TCE. In terms of guidance for Q4, about 60% of our total fleet days have now been fixed at the daily TCE rate of $21,600. When applying the recent FFA rate of $15,700 for November and December on our open days, the average TCE rate for the period is expected at approximately $19,500. On a more optimistic note, if we apply the average Cape size pot rate since the beginning of Q4 2023, then the resulting TCE for the period is projected to be approximately $22,800 per day. Moving on to capital returns, our board has authorized the distribution of another regular quarterly cash dividend of 2.5 cents for the third quarter, which brings our total distributions since the commencement of our dividend program to about $1.36 per share, representing approximately 26% of our recent closing price. Returning capital to our shareholders will remain an important priority for us, and I am confident that our healthy balance sheet and low refinancing needs over the next two years will allow us to continue on the same path. That concludes my summary of third quarter developments and I am now going to pass the floor to Stavros, our CFO, before returning to discuss the current status and outlook of the Cape size market. So Stavros, please go ahead.