12.

Derivatives and Fair Value Disclosures

The Company uses interest rate swaps for the management of interest rate risk exposure. The interest rate swaps effectively convert a portion of the Company’s debt from a floating to a fixed rate. The Company is a party to nine floating-to-fixed interest rate swaps with various major financial institutions at December 31, 2018 (2017: six swaps) covering notional amounts aggregating $111,477,920 at December 31, 2018 (2017: $68,935,006) pursuant to which it pays fixed rates ranging from 1.52% to 2.89% and receives floating rates based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) (approximately 2.04% at December 31, 2018). These agreements contain no leverage features and have maturity dates ranging from September 2020 to December 2025. All the derivative interest rate swap contracts for the periods presented qualified for hedge accounting since their inception. Details of interest rate swap agreements entered into during 2017 and 2018 are set out below.

On June 2, 2017, the Company as a condition of its term loan dated May 18, 2016, entered into an amortizing interest rate swap agreement for a notional amount of $15,996,125. The agreement is effective from August 16, 2017 and expires on May 16, 2025; under this agreement the Company receives each quarter interest on the notional amount based on the three month LIBOR rate and pays interest based on a fixed interest rate of 2.12%.

On February 1, 2018, the Company as a condition of its term loan dated May 18, 2016, entered into an amortizing interest rate swap agreement for a notional amount of $32,632,000. The agreement is effective from April 10, 2018 and expires on December 31, 2025; under this agreement the Company receives each quarter interest on the notional amount based on the three month LIBOR rate and pays interest based on a fixed interest rate of 2.74%.

On February 28, 2018, the Company as a condition of its term loan dated December 7, 2017, entered into an amortizing interest rate swap agreement for a notional amount of $21,586,250. The agreement is effective from March 12, 2018 and expires on December 11, 2022; under this agreement the Company receives each quarter interest on the notional amount based on the three month LIBOR rate and pays interest based on a fixed interest rate of 2.74%.

On December 10, 2018, the Company as a condition of its term loan dated May 18, 2016, entered into an amortizing interest rate swap agreement for a notional amount of $14,472,875. The agreement is effective from February 16, 2019 and expires on February 16, 2024; under this agreement the Company receives each quarter interest on the notional amount based on the three month LIBOR rate and pays interest based on a fixed interest rate of 2.89%.

The following tables present information on the location and amounts of derivatives’ fair values reflected in the consolidated balance sheets and with respect to gains and losses on derivative positions reflected in the consolidated statements of operations or in the consolidated balance sheets, as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income.

Tabular disclosure of financial instruments is as follows:

December 31,

2017

2018

Derivatives designated as

hedging instruments

Balance Sheet Location

Asset
Derivatives

Liability
Derivatives

Asset
Derivatives

Liability
Derivatives

Interest Rate Swap Agreements

Non current assets — Fair value of derivatives

645,169

—

1,068,369

—

Interest Rate Swap Agreements

Non current liabilities — Fair value of derivatives

—

126,525

—

465,389

Total derivatives designated as hedging instruments

645,169

126,525

1,068,369

465,389

The effect of derivative instruments on the consolidated statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2017 and 2018 is as follows:


Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments	Location of Gain/(Loss) Recognized	Year Ended December 31,
Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments	Location of Gain/(Loss) Recognized	2016			2017			2018
Interest Rate Swap — Change in Fair Value	Loss on derivatives		297,656			—			—
Interest Rate Swap — Realized loss	Loss on derivatives		(297,954	)		—			—

Total loss on derivatives			(298	)		—			—


Derivatives designated as hedging instruments	Location of Loss Recognized	Year Ended December 31,
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments	Location of Loss Recognized	2016			2017			2018
Interest Rate Swap — Loss reclassified from OCI (Effective portion)	Loss on derivatives		(766,898	)		(403,943	)		(11,982	)

Total loss on derivatives			(766,898	)		(403,943	)		(11,982	)

The components of accumulated other comprehensive income included in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets consist of unrealized gain / (loss) on cash flow hedges and are analyzed as follows:


	Unrealized Gain / (Loss) on cash flow hedges
Balance, January 1, 2016		(393,288	)
Effective portion of changes in fair value of interest swap contracts		418,723

Balance, December 31, 2016		25,435
Effective portion of changes in fair value of interest swap contracts		592,460

Balance, December 31, 2017		617,895
Effective portion of changes in fair value of interest swap contracts		56,084

Balance, December 31, 2018		673,979

Fair Value of Financial Instruments and Concentration of Credit Risk: Financial instruments, which potentially subject the Company to significant concentrations of credit risk, consist principally of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, trade and other receivables, claims receivable, payable to related party, trade accounts payable and accrued liabilities. The Company limits its credit risk with respect to accounts receivable by performing ongoing credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition and generally does not require collateral for its trade accounts receivable. The Company places its cash and cash equivalents, time deposits and other investments with high credit quality financial institutions. The Company performs periodic evaluations of the relative credit standing of those financial institutions. The Company is exposed to credit risk in the event of non-performance by its counterparties to derivative instruments; however, the Company limits its exposure by transacting with counterparties with high credit ratings. The carrying values of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, receivables from related party, trade and other receivables, claims receivable, payable to related party, trade accounts payable and accrued liabilities are reasonable estimates of their fair value due to the short term nature of these financial instruments. Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash are considered Level 1 items as they represent liquid assets with short-term maturities. The fair value of long term bank loans is estimated based on current rates offered to the Company for similar debt of the same remaining maturities. Their carrying value approximates their fair market value due to their variable interest rate, being LIBOR. LIBOR rates are observable at commonly quoted intervals for the full terms of the loans and hence floating rate loans are considered Level 2 items in accordance with the fair value hierarchy. Additionally, the Company considers the creditworthiness of each counterparty when determining the fair value of the derivative instruments. The Company’s interest rate swap agreements are recorded at fair value. The fair value of the interest rate swaps is determined using a discounted cash flow method based on market-based LIBOR swap yield curves. LIBOR swap rates are observable at commonly quoted intervals for the full terms of the swap and therefore are considered Level 2 items.

Fair Value Disclosures: The Company has categorized assets and liabilities recorded at fair value based upon the fair value hierarchy specified by the guidance. The levels of fair value hierarchy are as follows:

Level 1: Quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2: Observable market based inputs or unobservable inputs that are corroborated by market data.

Level 3: Unobservable inputs that are not corroborated by market data.

The following table presents the fair values for assets and liabilities measured on a recurring basis categorized into a Level based upon the lowest level of significant input to the valuations as of December 31, 2017:


				Fair Value Measurements Using
Description	Fair Value as of December 31, 2017			Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)			Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Assets/(Liabilities):
Interest Rate Swap Agreements		645,169			—		645,169			—
Interest Rate Swap Agreements		(126,525	)		—		(126,525	)		—

Total		518,644			—		518,644			—


				Fair Value Measurements Using
Description	Fair Value as of December 31, 2017			Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)			Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Assets/(Liabilities):
Interest Rate Swap Agreements		1,068,369			—		1,068,369			—
Interest Rate Swap Agreements		(465,389	)		—		(465,389	)		—

Total		602,980			—		602,980			—

The following tables present the fair values for assets measured on a non-recurring basis categorized into a Level based upon the lowest level of significant input to the valuations:


			Fair Value Measurements Using
Description	Fair Value as of June 30, 2017		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Impairment Loss
Long-lived assets held and used		6,000,000		—		6,000,000		—		(897,965	)

Total		6,000,000		—		6,000,000		—		(897,965	)

The vessel Gas Monarch was recorded at its fair value of $6,000,000 as of June 30, 2017. Depreciation amounting to $255,015 was recorded in the period from July 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017 and the vessel was presented at its new deemed cost less depreciation of $5,744,985 in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2017.


			Fair Value Measurements Using
Description	Fair Value as of September 30, 2017		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Impairment Loss
Long-lived assets held and used		8,000,000		—		8,000,000		—		(1,258,037	)

Total		8,000,000		—		8,000,000		—		(1,258,037	)

The vessels Gas Pasha and Gas Evoluzione were recorded at their fair value of $8,000,000 as of September 30, 2017. Depreciation amounting to $200,130 was recorded in the period from October 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017 and the vessels were presented at their new deemed cost less depreciation of $7,799,870 in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2017.

As a result of the impairment analyses performed for the year ended December 31, 2017, three of the Company’s vessels (held and used) were written down to their estimated fair value as determined by the Company based on vessel valuations, obtained from independent third party shipbrokers, which are mainly based on recent sales and purchase transactions of similar vessels, resulting in an impairment charge of $2,156,002. Furthermore, four of the Company’s vessels were classified as held for sale during 2017 and were delivered to their new owners during 2017 resulting in an impairment charge of $4,305,271 as their carrying amount exceeded their fair value which was determined based on their transaction price, as the sale price was agreed with unaffiliated third parties. These impairment charges were included in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations under the caption “Impairment loss” for the year ended December 31, 2017.


			Fair Value Measurements Using
Description	Fair Value as of June 30, 2018		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Impairment Loss
Long-lived assets held and used		9,400,000		—		9,400,000		—		(1,531,130	)

Total		9,400,000		—		9,400,000		—		(1,531,130	)

The vessels Gas Sincerity and Gas Texiana were recorded at their fair value of $9,400,000 as of June 30, 2018. Following the memorandum of agreement for the disposal of these vessels in July 2018, Gas Sincerity and Gas Texiana were classified as held for sale as of September 30, 2018 and were recognized at their fair value less costs to sell. Fair value amounted to $9,400,000 and costs to sell amounted to $442,000. The vessels are classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2018 at fair value less costs to sell of $8,958,000 in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018.


			Fair Value Measurements Using
Description	Fair Value as of December 31, 2018		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Impairment Loss
Long-lived assets held for sale		55,230,000		—		55,230,000		—		(3,189,858	)

Total		55,230,000		—		55,230,000		—		(3,189,858	)

The vessels Gas Defiance, Gas Shuriken, Gas Haralambos and Eco Lucidity were classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2018 and were recognized at their fair value of $55,230,000 less costs to sell. Costs to sell amounted to nil.

During 2018, the Company recognized for eleven of its vessels an aggregate impairment charge of $11,351,821. Seven of the Company’s vessels were written down to their fair value as determined by the Company based on their transaction price, as the sale price was agreed with unaffiliated third parties. Remaining four vessels were written down to their estimated fair value as their carrying amount exceeded their fair value which was determined based on vessel valuations, obtained from independent third party shipbrokers, which are mainly based on recent sales and purchase transactions of similar vessels.