OCEANFREIGHT INC. SUSPENDS CASH DIVIDEND, PROVIDES UPDATE
ON THE STATUS OF THE TIME CHARTER OF M/V AUGUSTA AND
APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR
December 12, 2008 - Athens, Greece - 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".
OceanFreight Inc. website at www.oceanfreightinc.com
OceanFreight Inc. press release
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