Star Bulk Takes Delivery of Supramax Vessel Star Cosmo; Expands Its Operational Fleet to Twelve Vessels


ATHENS, GREECE--(Marketwire - July 2, 2008) - Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ: SBLK) announced today that it has taken delivery of the Star Cosmo, a Supramax bulk carrier of approximately 52,247 dwt, built in 2005. The vessel comes with a staggered 3-year charter to Korea Line that commenced on March 17, 2008, at a gross daily rate of $55,900, $41,900 and $27,900 for the first, second and third year respectively.

With the delivery of Star Cosmo, Star Bulk's operational fleet currently consists of twelve dry bulk carriers. In addition, the Company has definitive agreements to acquire one Capesize dry bulk carrier and to sell its oldest vessel, a Panamax dry bulk carrier. The contracted fleet operating days under time charter in 2008, 2009 and 2010 are currently 100%, 84% and 63% respectively.

Akis Tsirigakis, President and CEO of Star Bulk, commented: "We are pleased to announce that we have taken delivery of the Star Cosmo, a modern vessel with an attractive time charter attached. Our fleet is fully contracted for 2008 therefore our revenue is unaffected by the recent freight market volatility, as is our ability to pay our fixed dividend which should be mentioned, represents only approximately 57% of our free cash flow."

Fleet Table:

                                 Year                          Time Charter
Vessel Name    Type     DWT     Built  Time Charter Expiry (1)    Rate (2)
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
CAPESIZE FLEET

Star Alpha   Capesize   175,075   1992    Jul 5  - Oct 5, 2009   $   47,500
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
Star Beta    Capesize   174,691   1993    Feb 12 - May 2, 2010   $  106,500
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
                                          Mar 1 - Mar 31, 2009   $  100,000
Star Sigma   Capesize   184,400   1991          Mar 2010         $   69,000
                                                Mar 2011         $   63,000
                                            Mar - Aug 2012       $   57,000
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
SUPRAMAX FLEET                            Jan 4 - Feb 14, 2009   $   28,500
                                                Feb 2010         $   45,000
Star Gamma   Supramax    53,098   2002          Feb 2011         $   38,000
                                             Jan - Mar 2012      $   31,000
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
Star Delta   Supramax    52,434   2000       Feb 7 - May 7, 2009 $   25,800
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
                                       Dec 15, '08 - Mar 15, '09 $   25,550
Star Epsilon Supramax    52,402   2001   Feb 2014 - May 2014     $   32,400
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
                                                May  2008        $   65,000
Star Zeta    Supramax    52,994   2003    Apr 2011 - Jul 2011    $   42,500
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
Star Theta   Supramax    52,425   2003    April 2 - Jun 16, 2009 $   32,500
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
Star Kappa   Supramax    52,055   2001    Aug 24 - Nov 23, 2010  $   47,800
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
Star Omicron Supramax    53,489   2005       Feb - May 2011      $   43,000
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
Star Cosmo   Supramax    52,247   2005        Mar 17, 2009       $   55,900
                                              Mar 17, 2010       $   41,900
                                          Feb 17 - May 12, 2011  $   27,900
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
Bought Vessels - To be Delivered to Star Bulk

Star                                           Jul 2009          $  112,600
 Ypsilon(3)  Capesize   150,940   1991         Jul 2010          $   93,300
                                               Jul 2011          $   74,100
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
Sold Vessels - To be Delivered to Buyers

Star Iota(4)  Panamax    78,585   1983      Mar 7 - Apr 17, 2009 $   18,000
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------
Grand Total        13 1,184,835
             -------- --------- ------ ------------------------- ----------


(1)  Range represents the earliest and latest expiry dates allowed by the
     charter party. Charterers have the right to add off-hire days, if any,
     which occurred during the charter period.
(2)  Represents the gross daily rate
(3)  Star Ypsilon is expected to be delivered to Star Bulk by
     September 2008
(4)  Star Iota is expected to be delivered to its new owners by
     September 2008

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 is headquartered in Athens, Greece. Its common stock and warrants trade on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbols "SBLK" and "SBLKW" respectively. Currently, Star Bulk has an operating fleet of twelve dry bulk carriers, plus definitive agreements to acquire one Capesize dry bulk carrier and sell its Panamax dry bulk carrier. The total fleet consists of four Capesize, one Panamax and eight Supramax dry bulk vessels with an average age of approximately 10 years and a combined cargo carrying capacity of 1,184,835 deadweight tons.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: (1) the delivery and operation of assets of Star Bulk; (2) Star Bulk's future operating or financial results; (3) future, pending or recent acquisitions, business strategy, areas of possible expansion, and expected capital spending or operating expenses; (4) drybulk market trends, including charter rates and factors affecting vessel supply and demand; and (5) other statements identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "will," "should," "may," or words of similar meaning.

Such forward-looking statements are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, Star Bulk's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in their records and other data available from third parties. Although Star Bulk 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 their control, Star Bulk cannot assure you that Star Bulk will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the failure of a seller to deliver one or more vessels, 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 Star Bulk'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. Additional factors that could cause Star Bulk's results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in Star Bulk's Registration Statement on Form F-1/F-4 and reports on Form 6-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov). The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and Star Bulk disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this communication.

Contact Information: Contacts: Company: George Syllantavos CFO Star Bulk Carriers Corp. Aethrion Center, Suite B-34 40 Ag. Konstantinou Maroussi 15124 Athens, Greece E-mail: ir@starbulk.com www.starbulk.com Investor Relations / Financial Media: Nicolas Bornozis President Capital Link, Inc. 230 Park Avenue, Suite 1536 New York, NY 10169 Tel. (212) 661-7566 E-mail: nbornozis@capitallink.com www.capitallink.com