14 - FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The fair values and carrying values of the Company’s financial instruments at December 31, 2014 and 2013 which are required to be disclosed at fair value, but not recorded at fair value, are noted below.

	Successor				Predecessor
	December 31, 2014				December 31, 2013
	Carrying Value		Fair Value		Carrying Value		Fair Value
Cash and cash equivalents	$	83,414	$	83,414	$	122,722	$	122,722
Restricted cash	29,695		29,695		10,150		10,150
Floating rate debt	430,135		430,135		1,480,064		See Below
2010 Notes	—		—		115,881		63,438

The fair value of the floating rate debt under the Amended and Restated $100 Million Term Loan Facility and the Amended and Restated $253 Million Term Loan Facility are based on rates obtained upon our emergence from Chapter 11 on the Effective Date. The 2007 Credit Facility was terminated on the Effective Date; however, a portion of the floating rate debt of the 2007 Credit Facility which was outstanding as of December 31, 2013 was traded in a private transaction for an amount that is not determinable by the Company, which Management believed was lower than the debt’s current carrying value as of December 31, 2013. The 2010 Baltic Trading Credit Facility was refinanced by the Baltic Trading $148 Million Credit Facility which was entered into December 31, 2014. On January 7, 2015, Baltic Trading settled the outstanding debt under the 2010 Baltic Trading Credit Facility with proceeds from the Baltic Trading $148 Million Credit Facility, therefore Management believes the floating debt outstanding under the 2010 Baltic Trading Credit Facility approximates its fair value as of December 31, 2014. The fair value of the Baltic Trading $22 Million Term Loan Facility and the Baltic Trading $44 Million Term Loan Facility is based on rates that Baltic Trading recently obtained upon the effective dates of these facilities on August 30, 2013 and December 3, 2013, respectively. Lastly, the fair value of the floating rate debt outstanding under the 2014 Baltic Trading Term Loan Facilities is based on rates that Baltic Trading recently obtained upon the effective date of these facilities on October 8, 2014. Refer to Note 10 — Debt for further information. Additionally, the Company considers its creditworthiness in determining the fair value of the floating rate debt under the credit facilities. The carrying value approximates the fair market value for these floating rate loans, except for the 2007 Credit Facility as of December 31, 2013. The fair value of the convertible senior notes payable represents the market value based on recent transactions of the 2010 Notes at December 31, 2013 without bifurcating the value of the conversion option. The fair value of the interest rate swaps as of December 31, 2013 is the estimated amount the Company would pay to terminate the swap agreements at the reporting date, taking into account current interest rates and the creditworthiness of both the swap counterparty and the Company. Refer to Note 11 — Convertible Senior Notes and Note 12 — Interest Rate Swap Agreements for further information regarding the effect of the Chapter 11 Cases. The carrying amounts of the Company’s other financial instruments at December 31, 2014 and 2013 (principally Due from charterers and Accounts payable and accrued expenses) approximate fair values because of the relatively short maturity of these instruments.

ASC Subtopic 820-10, “Fair Value Measurements & Disclosures” (“ASC 820-10”), applies to all assets and liabilities that are being measured and reported on a fair value basis. This guidance enables the reader of the financial statements to assess the inputs used to develop those measurements by establishing a hierarchy for ranking the quality and reliability of the information used to determine fair values. The fair value framework requires the categorization of assets and liabilities into three levels based upon the assumptions (inputs) used to price the assets or liabilities. Level 1 provides the most reliable measure of fair value, whereas Level 3 requires significant management judgment. The three levels are defined as follows:

Level 1—Valuations based on quoted prices in active markets for identical instruments that the Company is able to access. Since valuations are based on quoted prices that are readily and regularly available in an active market, valuation of these instruments does not entail a significant degree of judgment.

Level 2—Valuations based on quoted prices in active markets for instruments that are similar, or quoted prices in markets that are not active for identical or similar instruments, and model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs and significant value drivers are observable in active markets.

Level 3—Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement.

As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, the fair values of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities are categorized as follows:

	Successor
	December 31, 2014
	Total		Quoted Market Prices in Active Markets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)
Investments	$	26,486	$	26,486	$	—

	Predecessor
	December 31, 2013
	Total		Quoted Market Prices in Active Markets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)
Investments	$	77,570	$	77,570	$	—
Derivative instruments — liability position	6,975		—		6,975

The Company holds an investment in the capital stock of Jinhui, which is classified as a long-term investment. The stock of Jinhui is publicly traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange and is considered a Level 1 item. The Company also holds an investment in the stock of KLC, which is classified as a long-term investment. The stock of KLC is publicly traded on the Korea Stock Exchange and is considered a Level 1 item. The Company’s only interest rate derivative instruments is a pay-fixed, receive-variable interest rate swaps based on LIBOR which was outstanding as of December 31, 2013. The Company has elected to use the income approach to value the derivatives, using observable Level 2 market inputs at measurement date and standard valuation techniques to convert future amounts to a single present amount assuming that participants are motivated, but not compelled to transact. Level 2 inputs for the valuations are limited to quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets (specifically futures contracts on LIBOR for the first two years) and inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability (specifically LIBOR cash and swap rates and credit spreads at commonly quoted intervals). Mid-market pricing is used as a practical expedient for fair value measurements. Refer to Note 12 — Interest Rate Swap Agreements for further information regarding the Company’s interest rate swap agreements. ASC 820-10 states that the fair value measurement of an asset or liability must reflect the nonperformance risk of the entity and the counterparty. Therefore, the impact of the counterparty’s creditworthiness when in an asset position and the Company’s creditworthiness when in a liability position have also been factored into the fair value measurement of the derivative instruments. This credit valuation adjustment did not have a material impact on the fair value of these derivative instruments as of December 31, 2013. Refer to Note 1 — General Information for additional information regarding defaults relating to the swap. Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash are considered Level 1 items as they represent liquid assets with short-term maturities. Floating rate debt is considered to be a Level 2 item as the Company considers the estimate of rates it could obtain for similar debt or based upon transactions amongst third parties. The 2010 Notes are publicly traded in the over-the-counter market; however, they are not considered to be actively traded. As such, the 2010 Notes are considered to be a Level 2 item as of December 31, 2013. The interest rate swap agreement and 2010 Notes were not outstanding as of December 31, 2014. The Company did not have any Level 3 financial assets or liabilities during the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013.