NewLead Holdings Announces Contract of Affreightment for MT Katerina L

Piraeus, Greece - Feb. 24, 2015

NewLead Holdings Ltd. (OTC: NEWL) ("NewLead" or the "Company") announced today that it has entered into its first Contract of Affreightment for one of its bitumen tankers vessels, the Katerina L, for the transportation, within a ten month period, of a minimum of 31,000 tons of bitumen over ten voyages, or, at the Charterer's option, up to a maximum of 49,600 tons of bitumen over 16 voyages. The first shipment is scheduled to commence by the end of February 2015.

The Katerina L will be trading in the Mediterranean and United Arab Emirates areas between all the major refineries in the respective areas. Katerina L has secured employment for a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 300 days in 2015, depending on the respective trading routes.

Mr. Michael Zolotas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NewLead, stated, "Our strong relationships with oil majors and specialized oil and bitumen trading companies allowed us to enter into the Contract of Affreightment for the transportation of all bitumen within a few months of the final delivery of all five bitumen tanker vessels. We continue to capitalize on our long-lasting relationships with oil majors and oil trading companies to capture trading opportunities in the market today."

NewLead recently announced the delivery of five bitumen tanker vessels, the 2009-built Captain Nikolas I, Nepheli, Ioli and Katerina L and the 2008-built Sofia. These five bitumen tanker vessels are highly sophisticated tankers vessels, transporting asphalt and operating in niche markets with relatively low competition. All five vessels are trading with oil majors and oil trading companies.


The 2009-built bitumen tanker Katerina L

Coverage
Newlead has 24.6% and 23.9% of its operating days covered for 2015 for the dry-bulk and tanker vessels, respectively, with the "Newlead Victoria" and the "Nepheli" on a period time charter until June 2018 and July 2015, respectively, and the rest of the Company's fleet trading on the spot market.

Fleet Update
The following table details NewLead's fleet as of February 24, 2015:


  1. This is a third party vessel under management

About NewLead Holdings Ltd.
NewLead Holdings Ltd. is an international vertically integrated shipping, logistics and commodity company providing ideal solutions for seaborne transportation of dry bulk commodities and petroleum products through owned and managed vessels. NewLead controls a fleet of ten vessels, including five dry-bulk and five tanker vessels and manages one third party tanker vessel. NewLead's common shares are traded under the symbol "NEWL" on the Over-the-Counter market. To learn more about NewLead Holdings Ltd., please visit NewLead's website at www.newleadholdings.com.

NewLead Holdings Ltd. press release