Excel Maritime Announces 2Q, 1H Results

Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd (NYSE: EXM) (“Excel”), an owner and operator of dry bulk carriers and an international provider of worldwide seaborne transportation services for dry bulk cargoes, announced today its operating and financial results for the second quarter and six month period ended June 30, 2011.Second Quarter Highlights & Recent Developments:

• Operating profitable quarter with Adjusted EBITDA at $44.0 million and operating free cash flow at $27.6 million;

• Comprehensive financial covenant relaxation agreement in place with lenders under our credit facilities through December 2012, including the relaxation of vessel value covenant;

• Further increase in charter coverage to 84% of available vessel days for 2011 and 54% for the next 12 months to June 2012, including entering into eight additional period charters of more than 1 year;

• Disposal of 1985 Handymax MV Lady on advantageous terms.

A reconciliation of non-GAAP measures discussed herein is included in a later section of this release.

Management Commentary: Pavlos Kanellopoulos, Chief Financial Officer of Excel, stated, “During the second quarter, our operations recorded results with positive operating free cash flow generation. During the quarter, we continued to use our cash flow to repay bank debt without any further newbuilding funding obligations. We successfully secured from our lenders, financial covenant relaxation, which will assist in connection with the significant fluctuations in vessel values and market volatility the market is experiencing. The operating environment during the last quarter was more adverse as the market is trying to absorb increased tonnage coming onto the market. During this period, Excel continued to increase its charter coverage to 54% for the next 12 months improving further upon cash flow visibility. As half of the days of these secured contracts provide an upside potential through profit sharing arrangements, Excel is well positioned to take advantage of improvements in economic conditions and market sentiment.”

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Source: excelmaritime, July 29, 2011;