PARAGON SHIPPING INC. REPORTS THE SALE OF ONE KAMSARMAX NEWBUILDING CONTRACT AND THE PURCHASE OF TWO 3,400 TEU CONTAINER VESSELS

ATHENS, Greece, June 30, 2010 - Paragon Shipping Inc. (NYSE: PRGN), or the Company, a global shipping transportation company, announced today that it has sold one of its newbuilding Kamsarmax contracts and has also entered into agreements to acquire two 3,400 TEU newly built containerships from their builder Howardtwerke-Deutsche Werft, GmbH, Germany at a price of Euro 40 million per vessel (or approximately $49 million based on today’s exchange rate). The container vessels are scheduled to be delivered to Paragon between July and August, 2010.

Commenting on the events, Michael Bodouroglou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paragon Shipping, stated, “We have taken advantage of favourable conditions in the sale and purchase markets to sell one of our Kamsarmax newbuilding contracts and also to acquire two 3,400 TEU newbuild container vessels with prompt delivery within July and August 2010. We were able to sell the Kamsarmax contract at a one time cash profit to the Company and we believe the acquisition of the container vessels were made at attractive prices at an advantageous point in the container cycle.”

Paragon Shipping Press Release