ATHENS, Greece, May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TOP Ships Inc. announced that it has taken delivery of the M/V ASTRALE, a 75,933 dwt Panamax drybulk vessel, built in 2000 in Japan. The vessel has been financed with secured bank debt.
The M/V ASTRALE is the last drybulk vessel to be delivered under agreements entered into by the Company in 2007, all of which were delivered between the fourth quarter 2007 and the second quarter 2008. The ASTRALE has entered into a time-charter employment for a period of one year at a gross rate of $72,000 per day.
About TOP Ships Inc.
TOP Ships Inc., formerly known as TOP Tankers Inc., is an international provider of worldwide seaborne crude oil and petroleum products and of drybulk transportation services. The Company operates a combined tanker and drybulk fleet as follows:
-- a fleet of 17 tankers, consisting of 9 double-hull Suezmax tankers and 8 double-hull Handymax tankers, with a total carrying capacity of approximately 1.7 million dwt, of which 83% are sister ships. Twelve of the Company's 17 tankers are on time charter contracts with an average initial term of over two years with all but three of the time charters including profit sharing agreements above their base rates. In addition, the Company has ordered six newbuilding product tankers, which are expected to be delivered in the first half of 2009. -- a fleet of five drybulk vessels. Four of the Company's five drybulk vessels have period charter contracts for an average period of 20 months. Forward Looking Statement
Certain statements and information included in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance and may include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.
The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe," "anticipate," "intends," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "plan," "potential," "will," "may," "should," "expect," "pending" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.
In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include possible shareholder objections to the settlement of the class action, possible shareholder opt outs from the settlement, possible disapproval of the Court of the settlement, possible shareholder class appeals of the settlement and adverse outcomes on appeal, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in the demand for our vessels, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, and other factors. Please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties.
Contact: Michael Mason (investors) Stamatis Tsantanis, CFO
Allen & Caron Inc. TOP Ships Inc.
212 691 8087 011 30 210 812 8199
