Dry bulk vessel owner Diana Shipping Inc. has added two vessels to its fleet, a second-hand Kamsarmax and a newbuild Capesize bulker.

Diana signed, through a separate wholly owned subsidiary, an agreement to acquire from a different unaffiliated third party a newbuilding Capesize dry bulker of approximately 180,000dwt, being built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, for US$43m.

The vessel, to be named New Orleans, is expected to be delivered to Diana during August 2015. Diana said that the transaction is subject to final negotiations and execution of a novation agreement among the builders, the buyer and the seller.

The company has also signed, through a separate wholly owned subsidiary, a Memorandum of Agreement to acquire from an unaffiliated third party the m/v Torm Island, a 2010-built Kamsarmax dry bulk vessel of 82,194dwt, for US$18.05m.

The vessel (to be renamed Medusa) is expected to be delivered to the buyer during the second quarter of 2015.

Excluding the newly acquired vessels, as well as two newbuilding Newcastlemax dry bulk vessels and one newbuilding Kamsarmax dry bulk vessel expected to be delivered to the company during the second quarter of 2016, Diana's fleet currently consists of 40 dry bulk vessels.

Currently, the combined carrying capacity of the company's fleet, excluding the five vessels not yet delivered, is approximately 4.6 million dwt with a weighted average age of 7.1 years.