Hello, and welcome to the Diana Shipping Inc. First Quarter 2024 Conference Call and Webcast. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It' now my pleasure to turn the call over to Ed Nebb, Investor Relations. Please go-ahead Ed.

Thank you, Kevin, and thanks to everyone who is joining us for the Diana Shipping Inc. 2024 First Quarter Conference Call. Leading the call today is Semiramis Paliou, Chief Executive Officer, and she will now introduce the other members of the management team. So I will turn the call over to Ms. Palious.

Thank you, Ed. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Diana Shipping Inc.'s First Quarter 2024 Financial Results Conference Call. As Ed said, I am Semiramis Paliou, the CEO of the company. And it's my pleasure to present alongside our esteemed team, Mr. Anastasios Margaronis, Director and President; Mr. Ioannis Zafirakis, Director, CFO and Chief Strategy Officer; Mr. Eleftherios Papatrifon, Director; and Ms. Maria Dede, Chief Accounting Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone to review the forward-looking statements on Page 4 of the accompanying presentation. The first quarter of 2024 started unusually strong with Capesize earnings being the highest in 14 years and pulling along the other sectors. Even though the market has softened since the sentiment is still strong for the balance of the year. In this background, we announced a cash dividend for the first quarter of 2024 of $0.75 per common share. Turning to Slide 5. I will review with you the company's snapshot as of today. Our fleet comprises of 39 dry bulk vessels in the water with a total deadweight of approximately 4.4 million tonnes. The company is also expecting to take delivery of 2 methanol dual-fuel newbuilding Kamsarmax dry bulk vessels. Our fleet utilization has remained consistently high, reaching 99.1% for the first quarter of 2024, attributed to our prudent and efficient management of our vessels. Additionally, as of the end of March, we employed 993 people at sea and the shore. Moving on to Slide 6. Let's go over the key highlights for the first quarter and recent developments. In February 2024, the company executed the contract for the acquisition of 2 81,200 deadweight methanol dual-fuel, newbuilding Kamsarmax dry bulk vessels, built at Tsuneishi Group for a purchase price of USD 46 million each. These vessels are expected to…

Thank you, Semiramis. As you can see in this simplified slide, simplified from the previous one. The time charter revenues for the first quarter of 2024 that were in the vicinity of $58 million compared to $52.56 million (sic) [ $72.6 million ] in the same quarter previous year. The -- our EBITDA also was at $27.8 million compared to $45.9 million. And the net income stood at $2.1 million compared to $22 million in the first quarter of 2023. This is why we are in common share on a diluted basis is at $0.01 compared to $0.22 in the same quarter last year. However, the cash position of our company together with the restricted cash is at $162 million. And the long-term debt and financial liabilities is at $628 million compared to $642 million at the same quarter the previous year. Looking at the summary of the selected financial and other data. I think what we should look at is that the number of vessels has decreased to $39.7 million the average from $41.5 million. And the same applies for the ownership days, which is slightly lower than the previous same quarter last year. So our time charter equivalent is at $15,000 approximately compared to $18.5 (sic) [ $18,503 ] at the same quarter of the previous year. Daily operating expenses -- this we are at $5,800 approximately compared to $5,400. This is a particular trend for this quarter. We do not expect to continue for the other quarters and the average for the year or is going to be low. If we move to the other slide, which has the amortization profile and the balanced profile of our debt, you can see clearly that the company has managed very well the facilities, and we have no maturities for…

Thank you, Ioannis. A warm welcome to the participants of this quarterly earnings call of our company. If we cast our slides back to the beginning of the year, the bulk carrier market has so far been strong compared to 2023 and its 10-year earnings average. Clarksons average bulk sector earnings were $15,500 per day from January through the end of April and above $17,500 a day by mid-May. The main factors supporting this trend were, firstly, the demand growth in the Atlantic for cargo such as iron ore from Brazil and bauxite from Guinea. Secondly, the Red Sea disruption, which increased the ton-mile demand through alternative routing, about 0.7% for Capesizes and 2.9% for Kamsarmaxes and smaller. Further, the Panama Canal restrictions due to low water levels have again increased ton-mile [indiscernible] increased demand for shipments for bulk commodities to India and China. Related in some cases, contributing to the above-mentioned factors were the following events. We saw a return of growth of steel production outside China, a return of growth in global grain trade and finally, China contraction of domestic coal production. Government decisions also influence rates in less direct way. An example is the recent announcement that the Chinese government will spend $42 billion to buy and sold homes. A remarkable decision, impossible to imagine happening outside China, which will have a profound effect on the absorption of the huge surplus of residents remaining unsold following the building boom of a few years ago. In this short presentation, we will try to establish which of the above factors will continue supporting the bulk market, which might drop out and which new ones might emerge due to seasonal and other factors. The Panama Canal restriction is the most likely factor to drop out of the lift over the…

Thank you, Stasi. And before we open the call up to our question-and-answer session, I would like to summarize the key points from today's presentation. We adhere to our strategy of providing relative stability in a cyclical business and aiming to maximize long-term shareholder value. A cornerstone for executing this strategy is the prudent and active management of our balance sheet. We are continuously renewing and modernizing our fleet and enhancing our ecological footprint with greener investments. This aligns with our commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility. Our focus is on generating and securing positive free cash flows. We also remain committed to rewarding our shareholders with attractive cash and in-kind dividends whenever possible. And lastly, we're keeping a breadth of developments in the shipping and energy sectors for potential attractive opportunities presented to us. With that, thank you all for joining us today, and we look forward to addressing your questions during the Q&A session.

[Operator Instructions] We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor to management for any further or closing comments.

Okay. Well, with that, I would like to thank again, and we look forward to catching up on our next call with our next financial results. Thank you very much.

Thank you. That does conclude today's teleconference webcast. You may disconnect your line at this time and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.