ATHENS, GREECE--(Marketwire - August 11, 2009) - Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd (NYSE: EXM), an owner and operator of dry bulk carriers and a provider of worldwide seaborne transportation services for dry bulk cargoes, announced today the closing of its offering to the public of 6,000,000 shares of its Class A common stock. The Company recently announced the pricing of the offered shares at $8.00 per share. The Company has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 900,000 shares of the Company's Class A common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. The total net proceeds to the Company from the offering were approximately $45.6 million.

The Company expects to use the net offering proceeds for repayment of debt as well as to build up its committed capital expenditure reserve account, which the Company may utilize for future capital expenditure requirements.

The joint book running managers for this offering were Citi, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and UBS Investment Bank. Dahlman Rose & Company and DVB Capital Markets acted as co-managers.

Copies of the prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus related to this offering may be obtained from: Citi, Brooklyn Army Terminal, 140 58th Street, 8th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11220 (tel: 1-800-831-9146), Deutsche Bank Securities, Attention: Prospectus Department, 100 Plaza One, Jersey City, NJ 07311 (tel: 1-800-503-4611) and UBS Investment Bank, Attention: Prospectus Department, 299 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10171 (tel: 1-888-827-7275)

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the offered shares, nor shall there be any sale of the offered shares in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

ABOUT EXCEL MARITIME CARRIERS LTD

Excel is an owner and operator of dry bulk carriers and a provider of worldwide seaborne transportation services for dry bulk cargoes, such as iron ore, coal and grains, as well as bauxite, fertilizers and steel products. Excel owns a fleet of 40 vessels and, together with 7 Panamax vessels under bareboat charters, operates 47 vessels (5 Capesize, 14 Kamsarmax, 21 Panamax, 2 Supramax and 5 Handymax vessels) with a total carrying capacity of approximately 3.9 million DWT. Excel Class A common shares have been listed since September 15, 2005 on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EXM and, prior to that date, were listed on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) since 1998.

Contact Information: Contacts: Investor Relations / Financial Media: Nicolas Bornozis President Capital Link, Inc. 230 Park Avenue - Suite 1536 New York, NY 10160, USA Tel: (212) 661-7566 Fax: (212) 661-7526 E-Mail: excelmaritime@capitallink.com Company: Eleftherios Papatrifon Chief Financial Officer c/o Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. 17th Km National Road Athens-Lamia & Finikos Street 145 64 Nea Kifisia Athens, Greece Tel: 011-30-210-62-09-520 Fax: 011-30-210-62-09-528 E-Mail: info@excelmaritime.com