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Exhibit 12.2
CERTIFICATION OF
 
THE PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL
 
OFFICER
I, Ioannis Zafirakis,
 
certify that:
1. I
 
have reviewed
 
this annual
 
report on
 
Form 20-F
 
of Diana
 
Shipping Inc.
 
for the
 
year ended
 
December
31, 2023;
2. Based on my knowledge,
 
this report does not
 
contain any untrue statement
 
of a material fact
 
or omit to
state a
 
material fact
 
necessary
 
to make
 
the statements
 
made, in
 
light of
 
the circumstances
 
under which
such statements were made, not misleading with respect
 
to the period covered by this report;
3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this
 
report,
fairly
 
present
 
in
 
all
 
material
 
respects
 
the
 
financial
 
condition,
 
results
 
of
 
operations
 
and
 
cash
 
flows
 
of
 
the
company as of, and for, the
 
periods presented in this report;
4. The
 
company’s other certifying
 
officer(s) and I
 
are responsible for
 
establishing and maintaining
 
disclosure
controls and procedures (as
 
defined in Exchange Act
 
Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e))
 
and internal control
over financial
 
reporting (as
 
defined in
 
Exchange Act
 
Rules 13a-15(f)
 
and 15d-15(f))
 
for the
 
company and
have:
(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures
to be designed under
 
our supervision, to ensure
 
that material information relating to
 
the company, including
its consolidated
 
subsidiaries,
 
is made
 
known to
 
us by
 
others within
 
those entities,
 
particularly during
 
the
period in which this report is being prepared;
(b) Designed
 
such internal
 
control over
 
financial
 
reporting, or
 
caused such
 
internal control
 
over financial
reporting to
 
be designed
 
under our
 
supervision, to
 
provide reasonable
 
assurance regarding
 
the reliability
of financial reporting
 
and the preparation
 
of financial statements
 
for external purposes
 
in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles;
(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the company’s disclosure
 
controls and procedures and presented in this
report our conclusions
 
about the effectiveness
 
of the disclosure controls
 
and procedures, as
 
of the end of
the period covered by this report based on such evaluation;
 
and
(d)
 
Disclosed
 
in
 
this
 
report
 
any
 
change
 
in
 
the
 
company’s
 
internal
 
control
 
over
 
financial
 
reporting
 
that
occurred during the period covered by the annual report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
to materially affect, the company’s
 
internal control over financial reporting; and
5. The company’s
 
other certifying
 
officer(s) and
 
I have disclosed,
 
based on
 
our most recent
 
evaluation of
internal control
 
over financial reporting,
 
to the
 
company’s auditors and
 
the audit
 
committee of the
 
company’s
board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a) All significant
 
deficiencies and
 
material weaknesses
 
in the design
 
or operation
 
of internal
 
control over
financial reporting which are reasonably
 
likely to adversely affect
 
the company’s ability
 
to record, process,
summarize and report financial information; and
(b) Any
 
fraud, whether or
 
not material,
 
that involves management
 
or other
 
employees who have
 
a significant
role in the company’s internal control over financial
 
reporting.
Date: April 4, 2024
/s/ Ioannis Zafirakis
Ioannis Zafirakis
Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer)