Euroseas take early delivery of Cosco container ships
BEAUTY RIVER and HONOR RIVER join the Greek firm's fleet


 

Euroseas Ltd.  the Greek owner and operator of drybulk and container carrier vessels and provider of seaborne transportation for drybulk and containerized cargoes, announced today that it took delivery of the M/V Beauty River to be re-named Despina P and the M/V Honor River to be re-named Jonathan P, two handysize container ships it had previously agreed to acquire, each with a capacity of 33,667 dwt and 1,932 teu. The vessels are sister ships built in 1990 in South Korea.

Both ships were previously operated by Cosco Container Lines

The M/V Jonathan P and the Despina P were each acquired for $18.7 million. Both vessels have been fixed on short term charters until October 2007 at a rate of about $17,000 per day. Following these charter agreements, approximately 92% of Euroseas total fleet days in 2007 and approximately 33% in 2008 are fixed under period charters, already concluded spot charters, or, otherwise protected from market fluctuations.

Aristides Pittas, Chairman and CEO of Euroseas commented: "We are pleased to have taken delivery of these two container ship vessels well ahead of their initial schedule. The acquisition of these two vessels is within our strategy to further grow our fleet by investing in drybulk vessels and containerships while at the same time focusing on the age and size segments which we believe maximize our return on equity."

"Based on this strategy, we have been able to increase our dividends paid for each of the last three quarters enhancing the return to our shareholders. Our dividend yield continues to be the highest amongst our public peers while at the same time, we seek to aggressively repay our bank debt. Aiming at continued and prudent fleet expansion, we are actively looking for additional opportunities fitting our investment strategy and objectives."