Imperial Petroleum eyes further acquisitions

IMPERIAL Petroleum chief executive Harry Vafias has said that the proceeds from a recent $60m capital raise will be used for further acquisitions for the fleet.

“We aim to increase our fleet ideally to a size between 25 and 30 ships,” he told analysts on a third-quarter earnings call.

Seven recent dry bulk carrier acquisitions have taken the Nasdaq-listed owner’s current fleet to 19 vessels and driven increased third-quarter earnings.

Revenues increased by about 25% compared with the same quarter last year, reaching $41.4m.

Third-quarter net income was $11m, versus $10.1m in 2024.

The proceeds from the latest capital raise is added to a pile of about $100m in cash, including time deposits, that the company was already sitting on at the end of the quarter.

Although the company has not said what kind of assets it is looking at, it has already contracted to buy three more bulkers, two handysizes and one post-panamax, that will take it to 22 vessels.

The fleet on the water comprises 10 bulkers ranging from handysizes to kamsarmaxes, and nine tankers including seven product tankers and a suezmax crude oil tanker.

The recent offering was by way of a direct agreement with two institutional investors to purchase a total of more than 9.5m shares in the company as well as warrants for further stock purchases.

“Market rates for both tanker and dry bulk markets are solid, and this seems likely to hold in the upcoming quarters,” Vafias said.

“With our debt-free balance sheet and our cash base that is currently $172m, and our focus on quality-built Japan- and Korea-built ships, we aim for an even better performance in the fourth quarter of 2025,” he said.