Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX), (the “Company”), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, today announced that yesterday, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it entered into a time charter contract with RWE Supply & Trading GmbH, Essen, Germany, for one of its Capesize dry bulk vessels, the m/v Santa Barbara. The gross charter rate is US$12,000 per day minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum eleven (11) months to maximum fourteen (14) months. The charter commenced yesterday. The “Santa Barbara” is a 179,426 dwt Capesize dry bulk vessel built in 2015. This employment is anticipated to generate approximately US$3.96 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charter.