Greek drybulk carrier Diana Shipping Inc said it is close to buying a vessel and is looking to add more to its fleet as slack demand and ship over supply has lowered asset prices. Too many ships and a fragile global economy has skewed the demand-supply balance in the shipping industry, sending rates plummeting down and forcing some company to idle vessels. The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index , which tracks rates to ship dry commodities like coal and iron ore has fallen more than a fifth this year. The company is close to buying a Panamax vessel—the second biggest type of dry bulk ship—and is negotiating another purchase, A Diana executive said on a conference call. The company would look at buying Capesize—the biggest dry bulk ship type—and Panamax vessels every two-three months. “Diana continues to have the best balance sheet in our dry bulk coverage,” Wells Fargo analyst Michael Webber said. He expects Diana buy additional assets, particularly in the second-hand market over the intermediate-term. “We expect Diana to have over $400 million in cash for acquisitions by the end of second-quarter. Diana could roughly double its fleet, should it deploy its cash,” Credit Suisse analyst Gregory Lewis said. As of January, Diana’s fleet included 14 Panamax vessels, 8 Capesizes, 1 Post-Panamax vessel. Two new ships will be handed over to the company in 2012. Diana said large vessel prices have dropped 8-10 percent. It, however, said rising fuel prices, fast-falling rates and the aftermath of the Japan earthquake have clouded the shipping industry’s forecast. Vessel additions helped Diana post a first-quarter profit of 41 cents a share on revenue of $69.4 million. Analysts, on average, were expecting the company to earn 37 cents a share on revenue of $66.5 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reuters)