Star Bulk Announces Public Offering of 16,500,000 Common Shares

ATHENS, GREECE--(Marketwire - Jul 18, 2011) - Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (the "Company" or "Star Bulk") (NASDAQ: SBLK) today announced that it intends to offer and sell 16,500,000 common shares in an underwritten public offering. All of the shares in the offering are to be sold by Star Bulk. As part of the offering, the Company has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional 2,475,000 common shares to cover over-allotments, if any. The Company expects to use the net offering proceeds to fund a portion of the aggregate purchase price for two secondhand drybulk carriers it has contracted to acquire by August 31, 2011 and for general corporate purposes.

The common shares trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "SBLK".

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and RBC Capital Markets, LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for this offering and ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Dahlman Rose & Company, LLC and FBR Capital Markets & Co. are acting as co-managers for this offering.

This offering is being made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus. A prospectus supplement related to the offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC's website located at www.sec.gov. When available, copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained from Deutsche Bank Securities, Attention: Prospectus Department, 100 Plaza One, Jersey City, NJ 07311 (telephone: 1-800-503-4611) and RBC Capital Markets, Attn: Equity Syndicate, Three World Financial Center , 200 Vesey Street, 8th Floor , New York, New York 10281 (telephone: 1-877-822-4089).

A shelf registration statement relating to the shares was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and is effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities, in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

About Star Bulk
Star Bulk is a global shipping company providing worldwide seaborne transportation solutions in the dry bulk sector. Star Bulk's vessels transport major bulks, which include iron ore, coal and grain and minor bulks such as bauxite, fertilizers and steel products. Star Bulk was incorporated in the Marshall Islands on December 13, 2006 and maintains executive offices in Athens, Greece. Its common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "SBLK". Currently, Star Bulk has an operating fleet of eleven dry bulk carriers, definitive agreements to build two Capesize vessels and definitive agreements to acquire two Capesize vessels. The total fleet consists of fifteen vessels, seven Capesize, and eight Supramax dry bulk vessels with a combined cargo carrying capacity of 1,626,721 deadweight tons. The average age of our current operating fleet is approximately 11 years.

Forward-Looking Statements
Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements 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 Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe," "anticipate," "intends," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "plan," "potential," "may," "should," "expect," "pending" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, examination by the Company's management of historical operating trends, data contained in its records and other data available from third parties. Although the Company 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 the Company's control, the Company cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.

In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in the Company's 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 fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for dry bulk shipping capacity, changes in the Company's operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for the Company's vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other factors. Please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this communication.