FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

13 - FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The fair values and carrying values of the Company’s financial instruments at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 which are required to be disclosed at fair value, but not recorded at fair value, are noted below.

	Successor
	March 31, 2015				December 31, 2014
	Carrying Value		Fair Value		Carrying Value		Fair Value
Cash and cash equivalents	$	68,783	$	68,783	$	83,414	$	83,414
Restricted cash	10,050		10,050		29,695		29,695
Floating rate debt	434,608		434,608		430,135		430,135

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 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 rate debt outstanding under the Baltic Trading $148 Million Credit Facility and the 2010 Baltic Trading Credit Facility as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively, approximates its fair value as of those dates. 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 9 — Debt for further information. Additionally, the Company considers its creditworthiness in determining the fair value of floating rate debt under the credit facilities. The carrying value approximates the fair market value for these floating rate loans. The carrying amounts of the Company’s other financial instruments at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 (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 assumption (inputs) used to price the assets or liabilities. Level 1 provides the most reliable measure of fair value, whereas Level 3 generally 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 March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, the fair values of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities are categorized as follows:

	Successor
	March 31, 2015
	Total		Quoted Market Prices in Active Markets (Level 1)
Investments	$	28,845	$	28,845

	Successor
	December 31, 2014
	Total		Quoted Market Prices in Active Markets (Level 1)
Investments	$	26,486	$	26,486

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. 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 transaction amongst third parties. The Company did not have any Level 3 financial assets or liabilities as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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