Contact Information: Company Contact: Michael Gregos Chief Operating Officer Tel: +30-210-809-0514 E-mail: management@oceanfreightinc.com Investor Relations/Media: Nicolas Bornozis Capital Link, Inc. (New York) Tel: +1-212-661-7566 E-mail: oceanfreight@capitallink.com
OceanFreight Inc. Suspends Cash Dividend, Provides Update on the Status of the Time Charter of M/V Augusta and Appoints New Director
| Source: OceanFreight Inc.
ATHENS, GREECE--(Marketwire - December 12, 2008) - OceanFreight Inc. (NASDAQ : OCNF ), a global
provider of seaborne transportation services, today made several
announcements as follows:
Suspension of Dividend:
The Company's Board of Directors has decided to suspend future cash
dividend payments in order to preserve capital and potentially capitalize
on market opportunities as they may arise.
Anthony Kandylidis, OceanFreight's President and Chief Executive Officer,
commented: "Current global shipping, economic and financial market
conditions dictate that we take all prudent steps available to retain our
capital at the present time. The Board of Directors and management believe
it is in the best interest of shareholders to suspend regular cash
dividends in order to allow the Company to improve its capital structure
during this downturn. In addition, this move will potentially allow us to
deploy our cash reserves that would have been devoted to dividends for
opportunities as they may arise in the current marketplace and to service
our debt."
Update on the time charter employment of the M/V Augusta:
The M/V Augusta, a 1996 built 69,953 dwt Panamax dry bulk carrier commenced
a three year time charter as of November 18, 2008. Given the significant
decline in the drybulk market, prior to the commencement of the charter,
the Company agreed to renegotiate the daily charter rate from $42,100 per
day, as had been originally agreed under the prevailing market conditions
at that time, to $16,000 per day and to amend the period of the time
charter from a minimum of 34 months and a maximum of 37 months to a minimum
of 35.5 months and a maximum of 40 months.
Anthony Kandylidis, OceanFreight's President and Chief Executive Officer,
commented: "We agreed to renegotiate this time charter given that the time
charter had not yet commenced and that current market conditions are
significantly different from those prevailing when the charter was
originally agreed to. At the same time, we achieved a 3-year rate that is
better than the current environment and this enables us to maintain 85% and
50% coverage of our fleet operating days in 2009 and 2010 under time
charter employment."
Appointment of New Director:
Mr. Harry Kerames has resigned from our Board of Directors for personal
reasons effective November 25th, 2008. The Board of Directors has today
appointed Mr. Panagiotis A. Korakas to the Board of Directors as an
independent director. Panagiotis A. Korakas was born 1950 in Athens,
Greece. Mr. Korakas has had an extensive career in the construction and
construction materials industry, both as an executive and an
entrepreneur. For almost ten years, Mr. Korakas was the General Manager of
Korakas & Partners, a commercial construction entity, while during the
last 15 years he is running a business enterprise specializing in advanced
composite metal construction.
Prof. John Liveris, Chairman of OceanFreight commented: "We wish Harry
Kerames all the best and thank him for his valuable service. I welcome
Panagiotis Korakas to the Board of Directors of OceanFreight Inc. With this
appointment the Company continues to satisfy NASDAQ corporate governance
standards requiring a board comprised of a majority of independent
directors."
About OceanFreight Inc.
OceanFreight Inc. was incorporated in 2006 to acquire high quality
secondhand vessels and deploy them on medium and long term charters. The
Company began operations with the delivery of its first vessel in June 2007
and currently owns and operates a fleet of thirteen vessels, consisting of
one Capesize drybulk carrier, eight Panamax drybulk carriers, one Suezmax
tanker and three Aframax tankers with a total carrying capacity of
1,170,633 dwt.
OceanFreight's Inc. common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Market
where it trades under the symbol "OCNF."
Visit our website at www.oceanfreightinc.com
Forward-Looking Statement
Matters discussed in this release may constitute forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with
respect to future events and financial performance and may include
statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events
or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are
other than statements of historical facts.
The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various
assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions,
including without limitation, management's examination of historical
operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available
from third parties. Although OceanFreight Inc. believes that these
assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are
inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are
difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, OceanFreight
Inc. cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these
expectations, beliefs or projections.
Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ
materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include
the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions,
including changes in charterhire rates and vessel values, changes in demand
that may affect attitudes of time charterers to scheduled and unscheduled
drydocking, changes in OceanFreight Inc.'s operating expenses, including
bunker prices, dry-docking and insurance costs, or actions taken by
regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future
litigation, domestic and international political conditions, potential
disruption of shipping routes due to accidents and political events or acts
by terrorists.
Risks and uncertainties are further described in reports filed by
OceanFreight Inc. with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.