ESEA - Euroseas Ltd. Announces New Charter For Its 1439 teu 1997-built vessel M/V Aegean Express

ATHENS, Greece, Feb. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESEA, the “Company” or “Euroseas”), an owner and operator of container vessels and provider of seaborne transportation for containerized cargoes, announced today a new charter of its container vessel M/V “Aegean Express”.

Specifically:

• M/V “Aegean Express”, a 1,439 TEU vessel built in 1997, entered into a new time charter contract for a period of between a minimum of thirty-six and a maximum of thirty-nine months at the option of the charterer, at a gross daily rate of $41,000. The new charter will commence in early April 2022, in direct continuation of the present charter of the vessel.
  

Aristides Pittas, Chairman and CEO of Euroseas commented:
“We are very pleased to announce a three-year charter contract for our vessel M/V Aegean Express, the oldest and smallest in our fleet, at a charter rate of $41,000 per day. This contract increases our charter coverage for 2022 to about 96% and our charter coverage for 2023 and 2024 to about 67% and 45%, respectively. The daily rate of this charter is near the highest rate levels achieved by any vessel in our fleet for a three-year contract and highlights the strength of the containership markets. Over the period of this charter, M/V Aegean Express is expected to contribute in excess of $32m of EBITDA.”

Fleet Profile:

After the new charter arrangements of M/V “Aegean Express”, the Euroseas Ltd. fleet and employment profile will be as follows:

Notes:
(*)      TC denotes time charter. Charter duration indicates the earliest redelivery date; all dates listed are the earliest redelivery dates under each TC unless the contract rate is lower than the current market rate in which cases the latest redelivery date is assumed; vessels with the latest redelivery date shown are marked by (+).
(**)      Rate is net of commissions (which are typically 5-6.25%)
(***)      The previous charter of M/V Synergy Oakland of $202,000/day exceeded its maximum duration by about 25 days due to port delays with payment of the higher ($202,000/day) rate to the Company continuing during the extension. However, the extension resulted in the loss of the subsequent short term charter of $130,000/day that was to be performed before the 4-year charter starts. The vessel, after an idle period of 15 days, was chartered for a single voyage charter at $160,000/day after the completion of which it will commence the 4-yr charter; the new charter arrangements will result in about the same average rate and total revenues as the original arrangements.

About Euroseas Ltd.
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 140 years. Euroseas trades on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the ticker ESEA.

Euroseas operates in the container shipping market. Euroseas' operations are managed by Eurobulk Ltd., an ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 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 10 Feeder and 6 Intermediate containerships with a cargo capacity of 50,371 teu. After the delivery of four feeder containership newbuildings in 2023 and the first half of 2024, Euroseas’ fleet will consist of 20 vessels with a total carrying capacity of 61,571 teu.

Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements (as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) concerning future events and the Company's growth strategy and measures to implement such strategy; including expected vessel acquisitions and entering into further time charters. Words such as "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "anticipates," "hopes," "estimates," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to changes in the demand for containerships, competitive factors in the market in which the Company operates; risks associated with operations outside the United States; and other factors listed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

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