Box Ships Inc. announces the acquisition of a 2004-built Panamax Containership and secures the vessel on a three year time charter at $28,500 per day

ATHENS, Greece, July 12, 2011 – Box Ships Inc., (NYSE: TEU), or the Company, a global shipping company specializing in the transportation of containers, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with an unaffiliated third party to purchase the MSC Emma, a 5,060 TEU Panamax containership built in 2004 at the Hanjin Heavy Industries shipyard in Korea. The $55 million for the acquisition will be financed without issuing any additional equity. The Company also announced that it has entered the vessel into a period time charter agreement with Mediterranean Shipping Co. S.A. for three years at a gross daily rate of $28,500 with the charterer’s having an option to extend the time charter at the same rate for an additional one-year term starting upon the vessel’s delivery to Box Ships on or before August 29th, 2011.

Commenting on the recent events, Michael Bodouroglou, Chairman, President and CEO of the Company stated “With the addition of the MSC Emma, we are delivering on our strategy to expand the fleet by purchasing a vessel that is accretive to both our earnings and dividend per share. In addition, we increased our contracted charter coverage to 93% of our revenue days in 2012, 71% in 2013, and 41% in 2014 by securing employment for the vessel for three years at an attractive rate, and further diversifying our portfolio of charterers, while maintaining a solid balance sheet with approximately 53% leverage after the planned acquisition. We remain alert to identify the proper expansion opportunities to take advantage of the attractive fundamentals in the containership sector and in a manner that increases our free cash flow and dividends to shareholders.”

About Box Ships Inc.
Box Ships Inc. is an Athens, Greece-based international shipping company specializing in the transportation of containers. The Company’s current fleet consists of six containerships with a total carrying capacity of 28,177 TEU’s and a weighted-average age of 2.8 years with an agreement to acquire an additional containership that will increase the total capacity to 33,237 TEU’s with a weighted-average age of 3.6 years. The Company's shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "TEU."

Box Ships Inc. press release