Greece: Euroseas Ltd Announces Time Charter Renewals for Two Containerships

Euroseas Ltd., an owner and operator of drybulk carriers and container vessels and provider of seaborne transportation for dry bulk and containerized cargoes, announced yesterday that two subsidiaries of the Company have entered into time charter agreement for the following vessels:

M/V Ninos, a 1,169 teu, 1990 built feeder containership, has been extended for about 1 year at a gross daily rate of $11,200. The new rate will apply from the 1st of June 2011. The new rate represents an increase of about 65% over the vessel’s current rate.

M/V Kuo Hsiung, a 1,169 teu, 1993 built feeder containership, has been extended for about 1 year at a gross daily rate of $11,200. The new rate will apply from the 15th of June 2011. The new rate represents an increase of about 111% over the vessel’s current rate.

Following the above mentioned charters, approximately 77% of the Company’s total containerfleet days for 2011 and approximately 12% in 2012 are secured under period charters. The Company’s drybulk fleet is 100% covered in 2011 via time charter contracts or Forward Freight Agreements (FFAs) and 50% covered in 2012 via time charter contracts.

Aristides Pittas, Chairman and CEO of Euroseas, commented: “We are pleased to announce that we have extended the time charter agreements for M/V Ninos and M/V Kuo Hsiung at rates of approximately 90% higher than their current rates on average. We look forward to continuing capitalizing on a stronger containership market with the remaining of our vessels come up for re-chartering as any rate increases directly benefit our earnings.”

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 since January 31, 2007.

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 16 vessels, including 4 Panamax drybulk carriers and 1 Handymax drybulk carrier, 3 Intermediate containership, 5 Handysize containerships, 2 Feeder containerships and a multipurpose dry cargo vessel. Euroseas` 5 drybulk carriers have a total cargo capacity of 331,808 dwt, its 10 containerships have a cargo capacity of 17,787 teu and its multipurpose vessel has a cargo capacity of 22,568 dwt or 950 teu.

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Source: Euroseas, May 25, 2011