Environmental Protection

Upgrading energy efficiency and environmental performance of the fleet

Since 2018, Safe Bulkers has invested in innovations regarding environmental performance in its operations. In order to further enhance our technological capabilities, we have allocated about $546.6 million towards the upgrading of BWTS, EGCS, Hull Ducts, New Buildings, and ultra-low friction paints (ULFP) by the year 2024 and have committed another $201.6 million in aggregate, in environmental investments until 2027. To provide a comprehensive overview of our technological investments, we have included a detailed breakdown of our expenditures from 2018 to present, as well as our projected investment plan until 2027.

Fleet renewal initiative plan

We acknowledge that environmental conservation is crucial for our survival, not only as a maritime transportation Company but also as individuals. In this context, we have embarked on an extensive investment program mainly focused on our fleet renewal program. This means that we are selling our oldest and less efficient vessels and investing in relatively younger and more efficient second-hand vessels, as well as state-of-the-art newbuild vessels. During the last four years, we sold or contacted to sell 14 older or Chinese built vessels with $237.9 million proceeds on aggregate, 14.5 years average age and 1.11 million tons deadweight, and replaced them with 7 second-hand vessels with $187.0 million acquisition cost, 9.2 years average age and 0.97 million tons deadweight, effectively renewing our fleet with younger more efficient vessels and maintaining its average age.

IMO EEDI-Phase 3, NOx Tier III compliant New Buildings design

To ensure that our newbuild vessels meet the highest environmental standards, we have also invested in the latest available technologies and innovations, with a focus on reducing GHG and NOx emissions. We are dedicated to minimizing our environmental impact and advancing sustainable shipping practices, as reflected in our orderbook consisting of cutting-edge ships.

In relation to this, all of the newbuild vessels are built to the IMO EEDI-Phase 3, NOx Tier III standard, defining them as the most energy-efficient and low GHG and NOx emissions’ vessels currently available of each relative size and type.

Additionally, due to our renewal strategy, the Company’s average fleet age of 10 years remains stable for the last 5 years and is expected to remain at this level until the completion of our newbuilding program on 2027.

By 2027, we plan to build a total of 18 new vessels, with two already delivered in 2022, five in 2023, four in 2024, and one in 2025. The remaining vessels will be delivered progressively in the following years. Beyond simply renewing our fleet, this program represents a major step toward greater efficiency and sustainability.

With more optimized designs and a strategic shift toward larger vessel types—such as Kamsarmax and Post-Panamax—our new ships have a significantly lower Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) than vessels delivered just 6–7 years ago. This evolution highlights our dedication to reducing our environmental footprint, boosting transport efficiency, and contributing meaningfully to global decarbonization efforts.

Below we present our new buildings aggregate orders as of December 31, 2024, consisting of the type of vessels and the due date of their delivery: