Stamatis Tsantanis: Well, we’re very conservative in all our transactions. So overall leverage of the company, as you know, stands at around 50%. So, it’s something very logical here. And it’s an amortizing leverage that we have. And in this particular transaction, we’re going to play at around, I don’t know, 50%, 60%, combined maybe with other assets or leasing transactions. We are in the process of finalizing terms. I cannot disclose anything further at this point.
Tate Sullivan: Thank you. And then you announced the SAFeCRAFT announcement about installing a hydrogen tank and associate fuel cell equipment to generate electricity. Will this take place over the next year or so on one of your vessels? Has it already taken place? Can you talk more about that?
Stamatis Tsantanis: Yes, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak a little bit more about that. First of all, we are the only, the first and only Greek shipping company to participate in this innovative project that is being mostly funded by the European Union. So you can understand the importance that this project has for us. We are in the process of selecting the assets and finalizing the selection of the assets that will be eligible for this particular, how do you say, conversion, installing of these devices that we need to install. So it’s not just the hydrogen tanks. It’s a more complicated element that we need to install on the ship, and it takes much longer. And we will hopefully finalize the selection of these vessels in the next month or so.
And the process of installing them will take place during the dry dock of 2025. We will require a very extensive, excuse me, we’ll require a very extensive study of the ship going forward and the impact. So once we finalize that and do the 3D scanning and all the laser placements and all that, we expect that to be finalized sometime by the end of 2025. So it’s a long process.
Tate Sullivan: Thank you very much.
Stamatis Tsantanis: Thank you, Tate.
Operator: Thank you. We are now going to proceed with our next question. And the question comes from the line of Michael Heim from Noble Capital Markets. Please ask your question. Your line is opened.
Michael Heim: Thank you for taking my question. Regarding the acquisition of the Iconship, will that $34 million expenditures fall into the second quarter when the ship is received?
Stamatis Tsantanis: Well, yes. I mean, we have already paid a deposit on the ship, so the actual full expenditure and delivery of the vessel will most likely happen within May, we expect. But just to be a little bit more conservative, let’s assume by the end of the second quarter, yes.
Michael Heim: And then would you review your plans for dry docking ships in 2024?
Stamatis Tsantanis: Well, we are pretty much, how do you say, flexible on that front. It all depends on the schedule. We have a very light schedule for 2024 altogether, so it’s not going to be a heavy year on dry docks altogether. So, it’s something very manageable in our opinion, 2024, the dry dock schedule.
Michael Heim: Okay. And then, finally, I noticed a big rise in the interest and other income line in the fourth quarter, even though the cash position was relatively the same. Could you explain what items might fall into that line item?
Stamatis Tsantanis: There’s no other major items to expect now, Mike. On the expense, on the cash expense side, I mean, we expect interest expense to remain at pretty much similar levels, so around $2,500 per vessel per day, $2,500 to $2,750 [ph] per vessel per day. And that’s about it. I mean, also on the G&A front, you should expect 2023 to provide a good proxy for 2024. We don’t expect major movements out of these figures. Now, of course, as everybody expects, base interest rates should start coming off, and this will have a direct reflection in our bottom line. We have done what we should have done from our side in reducing our interest margins to a great extent over the last couple of years. So, as soon as you see base rates decreasing, that will reflect very nicely in our bottom line.
Michael Heim: Okay. Thank you.
Stamatis Tsantanis: Thanks, Mike.
Operator: Thank you. We are now going to proceed with our next question, and the questions come from the line of Liam Burke from B. Riley Financial. Please ask your question.
Liam Burke: Thank you. Good afternoon, Stamatis. Good afternoon, Stavros.
Stamatis Tsantanis: Hello, Liam. Hi. Good morning.
Liam Burke: Stamatis, the outlook for the Capes looks very, very strong for 2023. It’s anticipated that China’s steel production would be relatively flat from last year. So, looking at the iron ore trade, where do you see some of the offsets to flat China’s steel production this year?
Stamatis Tsantanis: Well, first of all, we are very happy with the figures that we experienced in 2023. If you recall, same time last year, everybody was talking about the bankruptcies of Evergrande, and the other big developer in China. So, everybody was very gloomy about the Chinese demand for iron ore, as well as the steel production. And of course, it was for the local demand and the housing crisis in China, it appeared to be quite severe. However, we’ve had a 6% increase in ton miles, so a huge import increase in China of raw materials associated with that trade, like iron ore, coal, and bauxite. And of course, a very big increase in the exports of steel products. So, even if there were gloomy predictions in the beginning, the actual trade inbound and, of course, outbound from China has been very, very strong.
