UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16

UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the month of August 2021

Commission File Number: 001-33869

STAR BULK CARRIERS CORP.

(Translation of registrant’s name into English)

Star Bulk Carriers Corp.

c/o Star Bulk Management Inc.

40 Agiou Konstantinou Street,

15124 Maroussi,

Athens, Greece

(Address of principal executive offices)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F ☒ Form 40-F ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ☐

INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS FORM 6-K REPORT

Attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Form 6-K is a Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (the "Company") as of and for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2021.

Attached as Exhibit 99.2 to this Form 6-K is a copy of the Company’s press release (the "Press Release") announcing its unaudited financial and operating results for the Company’s second quarter of 2021, which was issued on August 5, 2021.

The information contained in Exhibit 99.1 of this Form 6-K is hereby incorporated by reference into the registrant's Registration Statements on Form F-3 (File Nos. 333-230687, 333-232765, 333-234125 and 333-252808) and Registration Statement on Form S-8 (File No. 333-176922), to be a part thereof from the date on which this report is submitted, to the extent not superseded by documents or reports subsequently filed or furnished.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This Form 6-K, and the documents to which the Company refers in this Form 6-K, as well as information included in oral statements or other written statements made or to be made by the Company, contain “forward-looking statements,” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, with respect to our financial condition, results of operations and business and our expectations or beliefs concerning future events. Words such as, but not limited to, “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “targets,” “projects,” “likely,” “would,” “could” and similar expressions or phrases may identify forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. The occurrence of the events described, and the achievement of the expected results, depend on many events, some or all of which are not predictable or within our control. Actual results may differ materially from expected results.

In addition, important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include:

Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements we make in this document are qualified by the information contained or referred to herein, including, but not limited to, (i) the information contained under this heading and (ii) the information disclosed in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended 2020, filed with the SEC on April 1, 2021, as amended on April 2, 2021.

You should carefully consider the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that may be issued by us or persons acting on our behalf. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Dated: August 5, 2021

Exhibit 99.1

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following is a discussion of the financial condition and results of operations of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (“Star Bulk”) for the six-month periods ended June 30, 2020 and 2021. Unless otherwise specified herein, references to the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” shall include Star Bulk and its subsidiaries. You should read the following discussion and analysis together with the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere herein. For additional information relating to our management’s discussion and analysis of financial conditions and results of operations, please see our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2020, which was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on April 1, 2021, as amended on April 2, 2021 (the “2020 Annual Report”). Unless otherwise defined herein, capitalized words and expressions used herein shall have the same meanings ascribed to them in the 2020 Annual Report. This discussion includes forward-looking statements which, although based on assumptions that we consider reasonable, are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or conditions to differ materially from those currently anticipated and expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Overview

We are a global shipping company providing worldwide seaborne transportation solutions in the dry bulk sector. Our vessels transport major bulks, which include iron ore, coal and grain, and minor bulks which include bauxite, fertilizers and steel products. We were incorporated in the Marshall Islands on December 13, 2006 and, on December 3, 2007, we commenced operations when we took delivery of our first vessel. We maintain offices in Athens, Oslo, New York, Limassol, Singapore and Germany. Our common shares trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “SBLK.”

Our Fleet

As of August 5, 2021, our owned fleet consisted of 128 operating vessels with an aggregate carrying capacity of approximately 14.1 million dwt, consisting of Newcastlemax, Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax and Supramax vessels. We believe our Company is the largest US listed dry bulk operator in terms of number of vessels and deadweight tonnage.

The following tables present summary information relating to our fleet as of August 5, 2021:

Operating Fleet:

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our principal sources of funds have been cash from operations, equity offerings, borrowings under secured credit facilities, debt securities or bareboat lease financings and proceeds from vessel sales. Our principal uses of funds have been capital expenditures to establish, grow our fleet, maintain the quality of our dry bulk carriers and comply with international shipping standards, environmental laws and regulations, fund working capital requirements, make principal and interest payments on outstanding indebtedness and make dividend payments when approved by the Board of Directors.

Our short-term liquidity requirements include paying operating costs, funding working capital requirements and the short-term equity portion of the cost of vessel acquisitions and vessel upgrades, interest and principal payments on outstanding indebtedness and maintaining cash reserves to strengthen our position against adverse fluctuations in operating cash flows. Our primary source of short-term liquidity is cash generated from operating activities, available cash balances, funds received from new debt and refinancings, as well as equity financings.

Our medium- and long-term liquidity requirements are funding the equity portion of any newbuilding vessel installments and second hand vessel acquisitions, funding required payments under our vessel financing and other financing agreements and paying cash dividends when declared. Sources of funding for our medium- and long-term liquidity requirements include cash flows from operations, new debt and refinancings, or bareboat lease financings, sale and lease back arrangements, equity issuances and vessel sales.

As of August 4, 2021, we had total cash of $280.3 million and $1,616.2 million of outstanding borrowings (including bareboat lease financing). In addition, following a number of interest rates swaps that we entered into during 2020 and 2021, we have converted a total of $979.3 million of such debt from floating to an average fixed rate of 44 bps with average maturity of 3.0 years.

Our debt agreements contain financial covenants and undertakings requiring us to maintain various ratios, a summary of these terms included in Note 9 of the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, included in the 2020 Annual Report.

We believe that our current cash balance, together with the $30.0 million available under our HSBC Working Capital Facility, as defined in our 2020 Annual Report, and our operating cash flows to be generated over the short-term period will be sufficient to meet our liquidity needs for the foreseeable future (and at least through the end of the third quarter of 2022), including funding the operations of our fleet, capital expenditure requirements and any other present financial requirements. However, we may seek additional indebtedness to finance future vessel acquisitions in order to maintain our cash position or to refinance our existing debt on more favorable terms. Our practice has been to fund the cash portion of the acquisition of dry bulk carriers using a combination of funds from operations and bank debt or lease financing secured by mortgages or title of ownership on our dry bulk carriers held by the relevant lenders, respectively. Our business is capital-intensive and its future success will depend on our ability to maintain a high-quality fleet through the acquisition of newer dry bulk carriers and the selective sale of older dry bulk carriers. These acquisitions will be principally subject to management’s expectation of future market conditions as well as our ability to acquire dry bulk carriers on favorable terms. However our ability to obtain bank or lease financing, to refinance our existing debt or to access the capital markets for offerings in the future, may be limited by our financial condition at the time of any such financing or offering, including the market value of our fleet, as well as by adverse market conditions resulting from, among other things, general economic conditions, weakness in the financial and equity markets and contingencies and uncertainties, that are beyond our control.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (the “Covid-19”) outbreak a pandemic. In response to the outbreak, many countries, ports and organizations, including those where we conduct a large part of our operations, have implemented measures to combat the outbreak, such as quarantines and travel restrictions. These measures have resulted in a significant reduction in global economic activity and extreme volatility in the global financial markets. There continues to be a high level of uncertainty relating to how the pandemic will evolve, including the new Delta variant of COVID-19, which appears to be the most transmissible variant to date, the availability of vaccines and their global deployment, the development of effective treatments, the imposition of effective public safety and other protective measures and the public's and government's responses to such measures. At present, it is not possible to ascertain any future impact of Covid-19 on the Company’s operational and financial performance, which may take some time to materialize and may not be fully reflected in the Company’s results for 2020 and 2021.  During the first six months of 2021, the reopening of the global economy and consequent increased demand across all key dry bulk commodities has positively affected our revenues. On the other hand, as a result of COVID-19 restrictions imposed during 2020, additional crew expenses were incurred as further described below. However, an increase in the severity or duration or a resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the timing of wide-scale vaccine distribution could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, results of operations, cash flows, financial condition, the carrying value of the Company’s assets, the fair values of the Company’s vessels, and the Company’s ability to pay dividends.

Dividend Policy

In November 2019, our Board of Directors established a dividend policy, which was updated on May 19, 2021, pursuant to which our Board of Directors intends to declare a dividend in each of February, May, August and November in an amount equal to (a) our Total Cash Balance minus (b) the product of (i) the Minimum Cash Balance per Vessel and (ii) the Number of Vessels.

“Total Cash Balance” means (a) the aggregate amount of cash on our balance sheet as of the last day of the quarter preceding the relevant dividend declaration date minus (b) any proceeds received by us, including our subsidiaries, from vessel sales, or additional proceeds from vessel refinancings, or securities offerings in the last 12 months that have been earmarked for share repurchases, debt prepayment, vessel acquisitions and general corporate purposes.

“Minimum Cash Balance per Vessel” means:

“Number of Vessels” means the total number of vessels owned by us, or that are subject to sale and leaseback transactions and finance leases, as of the last day of the quarter preceding the relevant dividend declaration date.

As of March 31, 2021, we owned 125 vessels and our Total Cash Balance was $206.6 million.  Adjusted for the Minimum Cash Balance per Vessel for March 31, 2021 of $1.40 million, resulted in total declared dividend amount of $30.7 million or $0.30 per share.

As of June 30, 2021, we owned 128 vessels and our Total Cash Balance was $242.8 million (or $282.8 million pro forma for the expected financing of the last delivered vessels Star Elizabeth and Star Pavlina, the acquisition of which was fully financed by internal funds, as further described in Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere herein).  Taking into account the Minimum Cash Balance per Vessel as of June 30, 2021 of $1.65 million, on August 5, 2021, pursuant to our dividend policy, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.70 per share ), payable on or about September 8, 2021 to all shareholders of record as of August 23, 2021. The ex-dividend date is expected to be August 19, 2021.

Since Star Bulk is a holding company with no material assets other than the shares of its subsidiaries through which it conducts its operations, Star Bulk’s ability to pay dividends will depend on its subsidiaries distributing their earnings and cash flow to it. Any future dividends declared will be at the discretion and remain subject to approval of our Board of Directors each quarter after its review of our financial condition and other factors, including but not limited to our earnings, the prevailing charter market conditions, capital requirements, limitations under our debt agreements and applicable provisions of Marshall Islands law, which generally prohibits the payment of dividends other than from operating surplus or while a company is insolvent or would be rendered insolvent upon the payment of such dividend. Star Bulk’s dividend policy and declaration and payment of dividends may be changed at any time and are subject to legally available funds and our Board of Directors’ determination that each declaration and payment is at the time in the best interests of Star Bulk and its shareholders after its review of our financial performance.

There can be no assurance that our Board of Directors will declare or pay any dividend in the future.

Other Recent Developments

Please refer to Note 14 to our unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements, included elsewhere herein, for developments that took place after June 30, 2021.

Operating Results

Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations

We deploy our vessels on a mix of short to medium time charters or voyage charters, contracts of affreightment or in dry bulk carrier pools, according to our assessment of market conditions. We adjust the mix of these charters to take advantage of the relatively stable cash flow and high utilization rates associated with medium to long-term time charters, or to profit from attractive spot charter rates during periods of strong charter market conditions, or to maintain employment flexibility that the spot market offers during periods of weak charter market conditions. The following table reflects certain operating data of our fleet, including our ownership days and TCE rates, which we believe are important measures for analyzing trends in our results of operations, for the periods indicated:

 The following table reflects the calculation of our TCE rates as discussed in footnote (7) above. The table presents reconciliation of TCE Revenues to voyage revenues as reflected in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated statement of operations.

Voyage Revenues

Voyage revenues are driven primarily by the number of vessels in our operating fleet, the duration of our charters, the number of charter-in days, the amount of daily charter hire or freight rates that our vessels earn under time and voyage charters, respectively, which, in turn, are affected by a number of factors, including our decisions relating to vessel acquisitions and disposals, the number of vessels chartered-in, the amount of time that we spend positioning our vessels, the amount of time that our vessels spend in dry dock undergoing repairs, maintenance and upgrade work, the age, condition and specifications of our vessels, levels of supply and demand in the seaborne transportation market.

Vessels operating on time charters for a certain period of time provide more predictable cash flows over that period of time, but can yield lower profit margins than vessels operating in the spot charter market during periods characterized by favorable market conditions. Vessels operating in the spot charter market generate revenues that are less predictable, but may enable us to capture increased profit margins during periods of improved charter rates, although we would be exposed to the risk of declining vessel rates, which may have a materially adverse impact on our financial performance. If we employ vessels on period time charters, future spot market rates may be higher or lower than the rates at which we have employed our vessels on period time charters.

Voyage Expenses

Voyage expenses may include port and canal charges, agency fees, fuel (bunker) expenses and brokerage commissions payable to related and third parties. Voyage expenses are incurred for our owned and chartered-in vessels during voyage charters or when the vessel is unemployed. Bunker expenses, port and canal charges primarily increase in periods during which vessels are employed on voyage charters because these expenses are paid by the owners. Our voyage expenses primarily consist of bunkers cost, port expenses and commissions paid in connection with the chartering of our vessels.

Charter-in hire expenses

Charter-in hire expenses represent hire expenses for chartering-in third and related party vessels, either under time charters or voyage charters.

Vessel Operating Expenses

Vessel operating expenses include crew wages and related costs, the cost of insurance and vessel registry, expenses relating to repairs and maintenance, the cost of spares and consumable stores, tonnage taxes, regulatory fees, vessel scrubbers and BWTS maintenance expenses, lubricants and other miscellaneous expenses. Other factors beyond our control, some of which may affect the shipping industry in general, including for instance, developments relating to market prices for crew wages, lubricants and insurance, may also cause these expenses to increase.

Dry Docking Expenses

Dry docking expenses relate to regularly scheduled intermediate survey or special survey dry docking necessary to preserve the quality of our vessels as well as to comply with international shipping standards and environmental laws and regulations. Dry docking expenses can vary according to the age of the vessel and its condition, the location where the dry docking takes place, shipyard availability and the number of days the vessel is under dry-dock. We utilize the direct expense method, under which we expense all dry docking costs as incurred.

Depreciation

We depreciate our vessels on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives, which is determined to be 25 years from the date of their initial delivery from the shipyard. Depreciation is calculated based on a vessel’s cost less the estimated residual value.

General and Administrative Expenses

We incur general and administrative expenses, including our onshore personnel related expenses, directors and executives’ compensation, share based compensation, legal, consulting, audit and accounting expenses.

Management Fees

Management fees include fees paid to third parties as well as related parties providing certain procurement services to our fleet.

(Gain) / Loss on Forward Freight Agreements and Bunker Swaps, net

From time to time, we take positions in freight derivatives, including freight forward agreements (the “FFAs”) and freight options, with an objective to utilize those instruments as economic hedges to reduce the risk arising from the volatility in vessel charter rates for vessels trading in the spot market and to take advantage of short term fluctuations in the market prices. Upon the settlement of the applicable FFA, if the contracted charter rate is less than the average of the rates, as reported by an identified index, for the specified route and time period, the seller of the FFA is required to pay the buyer the settlement sum, which is an amount equal to the difference between the contracted rate and the settlement rate, multiplied by the number of days in the specified period covered by the FFA. Conversely, if the contracted rate is greater than the settlement rate, the buyer is required to pay the seller the settlement sum. Our FFAs are settled on a daily basis mainly through reputable exchanges such as London Clearing House (LCH) or Singapore Exchange (SGX) so as to limit our exposure in over-the-counter transactions. Customary requirements for trading in FFAs include the maintenance of initial and variation margins based on expected volatility, open position and mark to market of the contracts. The fair value of the FFAs or freight options is treated as asset or liability until they are settled. Any such settlements by us or settlements to us under FFAs or freight options, if any, are recorded under (Gain)/Loss on forward freight agreements and bunker swaps, net.

Also, from time to time, we may enter into bunker swap contracts to manage our exposure to fluctuations of bunker prices associated with the consumption of bunkers by our vessels. Bunker swaps are agreements between two parties to exchange cash flows at a fixed price on bunkers, where volume, time period and price are agreed in advance. Our bunker swaps are settled through reputable clearing houses. Bunker price differentials paid or received under the swap agreements are recognized under (Gain)/Loss on forward freight agreements and bunker swaps, net.

The fair value of freight derivatives and bunker swaps is determined through Level 1 inputs of the fair value hierarchy (quoted prices from the applicable exchanges such as the London Clearing House (LCH) or the Singapore Exchange (SGX)). Our FFAs and bunker swaps do not qualify for hedge accounting and therefore unrealized gains or losses are recognized under (Gain)/Loss on forward freight agreements and bunker swaps, net.

Interest and Finance Costs

We incur interest expense and financing costs in connection with our outstanding indebtedness under our existing loan facilities (including sale and leaseback financing transactions) and the 2022 Notes. We also incur financing costs in connection with establishing those facilities, which are presented as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability and amortize them to interest and financing costs over the term of the underlying obligation using the effective interest method.

Interest Income

We earn interest income on our cash deposits with our lenders and other financial institutions.

Gain / (Loss) on interest rate swaps, net

We enter into interest rate swap transactions to manage interest costs and risk associated with changing interest rates with respect to our variable interest loans and credit facilities. Interest rate swaps are recorded in the balance sheet as either assets or liabilities, measured at their fair value (Level 2), with changes in such fair value recognized in earnings under (gain)/loss on interest rate swaps, net, unless specific hedge accounting criteria are met. When interest rate swaps are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges, the effective portion of the unrealized gains/losses from those swaps is recorded in Other Comprehensive Income / (Loss) while any ineffective portion is recorded as Gain/(loss) on interest rate swaps, net.

Inflation

Inflation does not have a material effect on our expenses given current economic conditions. In the event that significant global inflationary pressures appear, these pressures would increase our operating, voyage, administrative and financing costs.

Results of Operations

The six-month period ended June 30, 2021 compared to the six-month period ended June 30, 2020

Voyage revenues net of Voyage expenses: Voyage revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2021 increased to $511.9 million from $307.0 million in the corresponding period in 2020. Time charter equivalent revenues (“TCE Revenues”) (as defined above) were $411.3 million compared to $196.7 million for the corresponding period in 2020, which is indicative of improved market conditions prevailing during the six month period ended June 30, 2021 compared to the corresponding period in 2020. As a result, the TCE rate for the first six months of 2021 was $19,371 compared to $10,128 for the corresponding period in 2020. Please refer to the table above for the calculation of the TCE Revenues and TCE and their reconciliation with Voyage Revenues, which is the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

Charter-in hire expenses: Charter-in hire expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020 were $7.3 million and $14.1 million, respectively. This decrease is attributable to the decrease in charter-in days from 726 in the first six months of 2020 to 327 in the corresponding period in 2021.

Vessel operating expenses: For the six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, vessel operating expenses were $100.3 million and $85.2 million, respectively. Vessel operating expenses for the first six months of 2021 included pre-delivery and pre-joining expenses of $2.3 million and additional crew expenses related to the increased number of crew changes performed during the period as a result of COVID-19 restrictions imposed during 2020 estimated to be $3.0 million. The average number of our vessels also increased to 122.7 from 116.0.

Dry docking expenses: During the first six months of 2021, we incurred $18.9 million dry docking expenses mainly attributable to 20 of our vessels that completed their periodic dry docking surveys within such period. During the first six months of 2020, we incurred $20.9 million dry-docking expenses mainly attributable to 25 of our vessels that completed their periodic dry docking surveys within such period.

Depreciation: Depreciation expense increased to $74.3 million for the six month period ended June 30, 2021, compared to $70.0 million for the corresponding period in 2020. The increase was mainly driven by the higher average number of vessels in 2021 compared to 2020 as discussed above.

Management fees: Management fees for the six month periods ended June 30, 2021 and 2020 were $9.6 million and $9.2 million, respectively. The increase is attributable to the management agreements entered into in connection with the fleet we acquired during the first six months of 2021.

General and administrative expenses: General and administrative expenses for the six month period ended June 30, 2021 were $17.4 million compared to $15.0 million in the corresponding period in 2020. The increase is primarily attributable to the reversal in the first quarter of 2020, of previously recognized stock based compensation expenses of $1.2 million, following the reassessment of the probability of achieving the performance conditions for some of our outstanding awards.

(Gain)/Loss on forward freight agreements and bunker swaps, net: For the six month period ended June 30, 2021, we incurred a loss on FFAs and bunker swaps of $1.5 million, consisting primarily of an unrealized loss of $1.6 million. For the six month period ended June 30, 2020, (Gain)/Loss on FFAs and bunker swaps amounted to a $19.5 million gain, consisting primarily of realized gain of $19.6 million.

(Gain)/Loss on time charter agreement termination: Within the first quarter of 2021 the time charter agreement assumed on the acquisition of the vessel Star Karlie was early terminated. As a result the unamortized balance, at the time of termination, of the corresponding fair value of below market acquired time charters, amounting to $1.1 million, was written off to earnings as a gain and separately presented under (Gain)/Loss on time charter agreement termination.

Interest and finance costs net of interest and other income/(loss): Interest and finance costs net of interest and other income/(loss) for the first six month periods of 2021 and 2020 were $27.8 million and $37.9 million, respectively. Despite the increase in the weighted average balance of our outstanding indebtedness to $1,624.5 million during the first six months of 2021, from $1,597.3 million for the same period in 2020, the interest and finance costs net of interest and other income/ (loss) decreased due to the decrease in the average interest rate on our outstanding indebtedness, mainly driven by the refinancing of certain of our debt agreements, the interest rate swap agreements that we entered into in 2020 and 2021 and the lower LIBOR rates during the first six months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.

Loss on debt extinguishment: During the six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, we recorded a $2.4 million and $0.6 million loss on debt extinguishment representing expenses and the non-cash write-off of unamortized deferred finance charges in connection with the refinancing of certain credit facilities and lease financings.

Cash Flows

Net cash provided by operating activities for the first six months of 2021 and 2020 was $219.7 million and $55.5 million, respectively. This increase was primarily driven by the higher charter rates due to the reopening of the global economy as well as a decrease in our interest payments due to our recent loan refinancing arrangements.

Net cash used in investing activities for the first six months of 2021 and 2020 was $108.3 million and $48.2 million, respectively. The increase was primarily attributable to cash paid in 2021 in connection with the acquisition of vessels as opposed to no vessel acquisitions in 2020 partly offset by lower capital expenditures for BWTS and Scrubbers paid in 2021 compared to relevant payments in 2020.

Net cash used in financing activities for the first six months of 2021 was $64.2 million compared to net cash used in financing activities of $25.9 million in the first six months of 2020. The increase was primarily driven by higher debt repayments and prepayments compared to debt proceeds in 2021 as compared to 2020 as well as the higher dividend payments made in the first six months of 2021 compared to the corresponding period in 2020.

Significant Accounting Policies and Critical Accounting Policies

For a description of our critical accounting policies and all of our significant accounting policies, see Note 2 to our audited financial statements and “Item 5 - Operating and Financial Review and Prospects,” included in our 2020 Annual Report. There have been no material changes from the “Critical Accounting Policies” previously disclosed in our 2020 Annual Report.

STAR BULK CARRIERS CORP.

INDEX TO UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

STAR BULK CARRIERS CORP.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
As of December 31, 2020 and June 30, 2021 (unaudited)

(Expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars except for share and per share data, unless otherwise stated)

STAR BULK CARRIERS CORP.
Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
For the six-month periods ended June 30, 2020 and 2021
(Expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars except for share and per share data, unless otherwise stated)

STAR BULK CARRIERS CORP.
Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income / (Loss)
For the six-month periods ended June 30, 2020 and 2021
(Expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars except for share and per share data, unless otherwise stated)

STAR BULK CARRIERS CORP.
Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity
For the six-month periods ended June 30, 2020 and 2021
(Expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars except for share and per share data, unless otherwise stated)

STAR BULK CARRIERS CORP.
Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
For the six-month periods ended June 30, 2020 and 2021
(Expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars except for share and per share data, unless otherwise stated)