Excel Maritime Carriers Enters Into a Time Charter Agreement for M/V Isminaki at $32,000 per Day and Announces Off Hire Days for the M/V Angela Star


ATHENS, GREECE -- (MARKET WIRE) -- April 11, 2007 -- Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd (NYSE: EXM), an owner and operator of dry bulk carriers and a provider of worldwide seaborne transportation services for dry bulk cargoes, announced today that it has chartered M/V Isminaki for a period of twenty-four months at US $32,000 per day to a first class European charterer. The vessel will be delivered into the charter by the middle of April 2007.

M/V Isminaki is a Panamax dry bulk carrier of 74,577 dwt, built in 1998 in Japan, which the company acquired in February 2005.

The Company also announced that as a result of an incident that occurred on March 18, 2007 due to adverse weather conditions, M/V Angela Star will be off hire for approximately 20 days.

M/V Angela Star is a Panamax dry bulk carrier of 73,798 dwt, built in 1998 in Japan, which the Company acquired in June 2005. The vessel currently serves under a time charter for a period of 24-26 months at US $26,500 per day to a European charterer. The charter commenced in October 2006.

CEO Christopher Georgakis commented, "We are pleased to announce that we have secured M/V Isminaki under profitable long-term employment to a first class European charterer. Our strategy of taking advantage of the current strength in the freight rate environment by gradually employing the majority of our vessels on long term time charters enables our company to secure predictable cash flows. Following this time charter agreement, 70% of our fleet operating days for the second quarter of 2007 and 56% for the full year of 2007 are fixed under short and long term time charters."

Fleet Deployment (as of April 11, 2007)


                                         Charter           Expected
Vessel            Year         Deploy-  Commence-  Charter   Re-    Charter
 Name       DWT  Built  Type     ment     ment      Period delivery   Hire
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ----------  -------- ------  -------
                                                     24
Isminaki   74,577 1998  Panamax Period  4/15/2007   months Apr-09  $ 32,000
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------
                                                    24-26
Birthday   71,504 1993  Panamax Period   4/1/2005   months May-07  $ 28,100
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------
First                                               24-25
 Endeavour 69,111 1994  Panamax Period   5/7/2005   months May-07  $ 28,500
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------
Angela                                              24-26
 Star      73,798 1998  Panamax Period 10/27/2006   months Nov-08  $ 26,500
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------
                                                      24
Powerful   70,083 1994  Panamax Period  4/12/2005   months Jun-07  $ 28,000
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------
                                                    23-25
Happy Day  71,694 1997  Panamax Period 12/09/2006   months Dec-08  $ 25,500
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------
                                                    22-24
Renuar     70,128 1993  Panamax Period 01/24/2007   months Jan-09  $ 26,000
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------
                                                   20-23.5
Rodon      73,670 1993  Panamax Period 11/28/2006   months Aug-08  $ 24,000
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------
                                                    12-14
Fortezza   69,634 1994  Panamax Period  8/30/2006   months Sep-07  $ 28,000
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------
                                                    11-13
Emerald    45,572 1998 Handymax Period   7/8/2006   months Aug-07  $ 20,000
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------
                                                    11-12
Elinakos   73,751 1997  Panamax Period  7/28/2006   months Aug-07  $ 22,000
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------
                                Short                 6-8
Marybelle  42,552 1987 Handymax Period  1/15/2007   months Jul-07  $ 25,000
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------
                                Short                 6-8
Lady       41,090 1985 Handymax Period  4/10/2007   months Nov-07  $ 29,000
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- -------- ------  --------

 Vessel           Year
  Name     DWT    Built  Type  Deployment
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ----------
Princess I 38,858 1994 Handymax   Spot
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ----------
Goldmar    39,697 1984 Handymax   Spot
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ----------
Swift      37,687 1984 Handymax   Spot
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ----------
Attractive 41,524 1985 Handymax   Spot
           ------ ---- -------- ------ ---------- ------------------------
About Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd

The Company is an owner and operator of dry bulk carriers and a provider of worldwide seaborne transportation services for dry bulk cargoes, such as iron ore, coal and grains, as well as bauxite, fertilizers and steel products. The company's current fleet consists of 17 vessels (ten Panamax and seven Handymax vessels) with a total carrying capacity of 1,004,930 dwt. The Company was incorporated in 1988 and its common stock had been listed on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) since 1998. As of September 15, 2005 Excel Maritime is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), trading under the symbol EXM. For more information about the Company, please go to our corporate website www.excelmaritime.com.

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 which 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 dry bulk vessels, 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.

Contact Information: Contact: Investor Relations / Financial Media: Nicolas Bornozis President Capital Link, Inc. 230 Park Avenue - Suite 1536 New York, NY 10160, USA Tel: (212) 661-7566 Fax: (212) 661-7526 E-Mail: nbornozis@capitallink.com www.capitallink.com Company: Christopher Georgakis Chief Executive Officer Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. 17th Km National Road Athens-Lamia & Finikos Street 145 64 Nea Kifisia Athens, Greece Tel: 011-30-210-62-09-520 Fax: 011-30-210-62-09-528 E-Mail: info@excelmaritime.com http://www.excelmaritime.com