Press Releases
Euroseas Ltd. Announces Agreement to Purchase a Panamax Drybulk Vessel Expanding Fleet to 15 Vessels
Maroussi, Athens, Greece - Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESEA), an owner and operator of drybulk carriers, container ship and multipurpose vessels and provider of seaborne transportation for drybulk and containerized cargoes, announced today that it has signed a Memorandum of Agreement to purchase the M/V Trust Jakarta, a Panamax drybulk vessel of 64,873 dwt built in 1984 in Japan. The M/V Trust Jakarta was acquired for approximately $28.6 million and comes with a period charter attached until July 2008 at a rate of $35,500 per day. The vessel will be delivered to the Company between October 15 and November 15, 2007 at the sellers option and will be renamed M/V Ioanna P. Following the delivery of the M/V Ioanna P., and the previously acquired M/V Tiger Bridge, approximately 79% of Euroseas total fleet days in the fourth quarter of 2007 and approximately 45% in 2008 will be fixed under period charters, already concluded spot charters, or, otherwise protected from market fluctuations.
Aristides Pittas, Chairman and CEO of Euroseas commented: "We are pleased to announce that we have agreed to acquire the M/V Ioanna P, our 15th vessel. This will be the seventh vessel to be purchased this year and the fourth since our follow-on equity offering in June 2007. We have essentially doubled our fleet in less than a year through accretive acquisitions. All of our investments have been carefully selected amongst a multitude of available projects within the dry shipping sector so as to achieve attractive returns for our shareholders. In that respect, the acquisition of M/V Ioanna P follows on the successful precedent of our previous drybulk acquisition of M/V Gregos in February 2007, also a 1984-built vessel, which has provided us with superior returns to-date. We expect that the acquisition of M/V Ioanna P will be accretive to our earnings and cash flow. Based on current charter rates, we expect to recoup this capital investment in less than three years, thus bearing minimal residual value risk as compared to investment in younger vessels. While we continue to focus on acquisitions of middle age tonnage on the containership front, we firmly believe that in the present high asset value drybulk market, well maintained vessels built in the mid-80s provide the best returns.
Fleet Profile:
The fleet profile of Euroseas after the acquisition of the M/V Ioanna P. and the previously acquired M/V Tiger Bridge will be as follows:
(*) ?IRINI? is employed in the Baumarine pool that is managed by Klaveness, a major global charterer in the dry bulk area, and also participates in two ?short? funds (contracts to carry cargo at agreed rates), minimizing its exposure to the spot market (covered at 77% for 2007 and 42% for 2008, approximately). The rate mentioned above corresponds only to the fixed portion of the vessels employment. The remaining portion earns the market spot rate.
About Euroseas Ltd.
Euroseas Ltd. was formed on May 5, 2005 under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands to consolidate the ship owning interests of the Pittas family of Athens, Greece, which has been in the shipping business over the past 136 years. Euroseas trades on the NASDAQ Global Market under the ticker ESEA since January 31, 2007.
Euroseas operates in the dry cargo, drybulk and container shipping markets. Euroseas? operations are managed by Eurobulk Ltd., an ISO 9001:2000 certified affiliated ship management company, which is responsible for the day-to-day commercial and technical management and operations of the vessels. Euroseas employs its vessels on spot and period charters and through pool arrangements.
After the delivery of the M/V Ioanna P, and the M/V Tiger Bridge the Company will have a fleet of 15 vessels, including 3 Panamax drybulk carriers, 2 Handysize drybulk carriers, 2 Intermediate container ship, 5 Handysize container ships, 2 Feeder container ships and a multipurpose dry cargo vessel. Euroseas? 5 drybulk carriers have a total cargo capacity of 277,316 dwt, its 9 container ships will have a cargo capacity of 15,321 teu and its 1 multipurpose vessel has a cargo capacity of 22,568 dwt or 950 teu.
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements (as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) concerning future events and the Company?s growth strategy and measures to implement such strategy; including expected vessel acquisitions and entering into further time charters. Words such as ?expects,? ?intends,? ?plans,? ?believes,? ?anticipates,? ?hopes,? ?estimates,? and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to changes in the demand for dry bulk vessels and container ships, competitive factors in the market in which the Company operates; risks associated with operations outside the United States; and other factors listed from time to time in the Company?s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company?s expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.
Contact:
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Company Contact
Tasos Aslidis
Chief Financial Officer
Euroseas Ltd.
11 Canterbury Lane,
Watchung, NJ 07069
Tel. (908) 301-9091
E-mail: aha@euroseas.gr
Investor Relations / Financial Media
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