MAROUSSI, ATHENS, GREECE--(Marketwire - April 23, 2008) - Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESEA), an
owner and operator of dry bulk carriers, container ship and multipurpose
vessels and provider of seaborne transportation for dry bulk and
containerized cargoes, announced today that a subsidiary of the Company has
entered into a time charter agreement for one of its container ships.
The M/V "Clan Gladiator," a 1,742 teu 1992 built handysize container ship,
has entered in a time charter agreement for minimum 16 to maximum 18 months
at a gross daily rate of $18,500. The charter will commence after the
conclusion of the present charter contract of the vessel.
Following this charter, 100% of Euroseas' total containership fleet days in
2008, and about 47% for 2009, are fixed under period charters. Overall,
including the Company's dry bulk fleet, 85% of the total fleet days in 2008
and about 33% in 2009 are covered under period charters, already concluded
spot charters, or otherwise protected from market fluctuations.
Aristides Pittas, Chairman and CEO of Euroseas, commented: "We are very
pleased to announce that we have secured all of our containerships for 2008
and a significant percentage of them for 2009 on profitable time charters.
By securing our income base with our container fleet and leaving the
majority of our dry bulk fleet exposed to the presently strong spot market,
we believe we will maximize our shareholders' returns."
The Euroseas Ltd. fleet profile is as follows:
Year TCERate
Name Type Dwt TEU Built Employment ($/day)
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
Dry Bulk Vessels
---------------- Baumarine
Spot Pool - Spot / Partly
IRINI (*) Panamax 69,734 1988 'til end 2008 fixed
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
ARISTIDES TC 'til
N.P. Panamax 69,268 1993 Jan-09 $ 52,000
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
TC 'til
IOANNA P. Panamax 64,873 1984 Aug-08 $ 35,500
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
NIKOLAOS P. Handysize 34,750 1984 Spot $ 41,000
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
GREGOS Handysize 38,691 1984 Spot $ 44,750
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
Total Dry
Bulk Vessels 5 277,316
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
Multipurpose Dry
Cargo Vessels
---------------- $ 8,850 'til
Dec-08,
TASMAN TC 'til $ 9,500 'til
TRADER 1 22,568 950 1990 Mar-12 Dec-10,
$ 9,000 'til
Mar-12
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
Container Carriers
------------------
TIGER TC 'til
BRIDGE Intermediate 31,627 2,228 1990 Jul-09 $ 16,500
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
TC 'til
ARTEMIS Intermediate 29,693 2,098 1987 Dec-08 $ 19,000
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
TC 'til
DESPINA P Handysize 33,667 1,932 1990 Feb-09 $ 15,250
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
TC 'til
JONATHAN P Handysize 33,667 1,932 1990 May-09 $ 16,500
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
CLAN TC 'til
GLADIATOR Handysize 30,007 1,742 1992 Sep-09 $ 18,500
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
YM TC 'til
XINGANG I Handysize 23,596 1,599 1993 Jul-09 $ 26,650
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
TC 'til
MANOLIS P Handysize 20,346 1,452 1995 Nov-09 $ 15,800
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
NINOS
(ex-YM TC 'til
QINGDAO I) Feeder 18,253 1,169 1990 Apr-09 $ 13,175
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
KUO TC 'til
HSIUNG Feeder 18,154 1,169 1993 Feb-09 $ 15,800
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
Total Container
Carriers 9 239,010 15,321
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
Fleet Grand
Total 15 538,894 16,271
------------- ------- ------ ------- ------------- -------------
(*) "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
"short" funds (contracts to carry cargo at agreed rates), reducing its
exposure to the spot market.
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.
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.
The Company has 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 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, 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 Information: Contact:
Visit our website www.euroseas.gr
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
Nicolas Bornozis
President
Capital Link, Inc.
230 Park Avenue, Suite 1536
New York, NY 10169
Tel. (212) 661-7566
E-mail: nbornozis@capitallink.com