EUROSEAS
Purchases the Handymax drybulk carrier “Solar Europe”

DEC, 05.2008
 

 

Euroseas Ltd., a Marshall Islands company of Pittas family interests’, listed on Nasdaq (Aristides Pittas, Chairman & CEO), signed a memorandum of agreement to purchase the M/V “Solar Europe”, a handymax drybulk carrier of 46,667 dwt, built in 1998 in Japan, for approximately USD 18m. The vessel is expected to be delivered to the company’s fleet around January 31, 2009.

The company also reached an agreement to extend for about one year the charter of one of its feeder containerships, M/V “Ninos”, at a gross daily rate of USD 8,060 while reducing the rate of the vessel to the same level for the 4 last months of her current charter.

As a result of the extension of the charter of M/V “Ninos”, 54% of the company’s container ship and multipurpose carrier fleet is under time-charter contracts in 2009. Overall, including the company’s dry bulk fleet and after delivery of M/V “Solar Europe”, about 35% of the company's total fleet days in 2009 are covered under time-charter contracts.

The company also announced that sold a freight forward agreement (FFA) on the panamax index for Calendar 2010 for a modern panamax equivalent at about USD 10,500 per day. Such a contract serves as an approximate hedge to one of its panamax vessels for 2010 effectively locking in a rate of about USD 9,500 per day.

• Euroseas operates in the dry cargo, drybulk and container shipping markets, employing its vessels on spot, period charters and through pool arrangements. Its operations are managed by Eurobulk Ltd., an ISO 9001:2000 certified affiliated ship management company. Euroseas.

• The Company has a fleet of 16 vessels, including 3 Panamax drybulk carriers, 2 Handysize drybulk carriers, 3 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 10 container ships have a cargo capacity of 17,877 teu and its 1 multipurpose vessel has a cargo capacity of 22,568 dwt or 950 teu.