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TOP SHIPS ANNOUNCES REDELIVERY OF ITS LAST LEASED VESSEL AND FILING OF ITS ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 20-F
Athens, Greece - July 6, 2009. Top Ships Inc. (NasdaqGS:TOPS) (the “Company” or “Top Ships”), a global provider of marine transportation services, announced today it has redelivered the MT Relentless (DWT 47,081) to its owners and paid a termination fee of $2.5 million. The termination fee and redelivery of the vessel were part of the termination agreement signed in April, 2009. This was the last leased vessel in Top Ships’ fleet.
Additionally, Top Ships announced that it has filed its Annual Report on Form 20-F, on June 29, 2009, for the year ended 2008. The Annual Report is available for download on the Company’s website, www.topships.org. Any shareholder may receive a hard copy of the Company’s complete Annual Report, which includes the Company’s complete 2008 audited financial statements, free of charge upon request. The audit opinion of Deloitte, Hadjipavlou, Sofianos and Cambanis S.A. regarding the 2008 financial statements of the Company which were included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F, are unqualified. However, the opinion includes an explanatory “going concern” paragraph which states:
“The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company's inability to comply with financial covenants under its current loan agreements as of December 31, 2008 and its negative working capital position raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans concerning these matters are also discussed in Note 3 to the financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.”
Investors are urged to read the full text of the Company’s Report on Form 20-F, including Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements referred to above.
Evangelos Pistiolis, Chief Executive Officer of Top Ships, commented: “The redelivery of the M/T Relentless marks the completion of our fleet renewal strategy that started almost two years ago. The company is now left with very young tonnage and good charters which is the right mix to have during these difficult market conditions.”
About TOP Ships Inc.
About TOP Ships Inc.
TOP Ships Inc., formerly known as TOP Tankers Inc., is an international provider of worldwide
seaborne crude oil and petroleum products and drybulk transportation services. The Company
operates a combined tanker and drybulk fleet as follows:
• A fleet of eight double-hull Handymax tankers, with a total carrying capacity of
approximately 0.4 million dwt, of which 64% are sister ships. Three of the Company's
Handymaxes are on time charter contracts with an average term of nine months with all of
the time charters including profit sharing agreements above their base rates. Five of the
Company’s Handymax tankers are fixed on a bareboat charter basis with an average term
of eight and a half years.
• One newbuilding product tanker, which is expected to be delivered in 2009. The expected
newbuilding has a fixed rate bareboat employment agreement for a period of ten years.
• A fleet of five drybulk vessels with a total carrying capacity of approximately 0.3 million
dwt, of which 47% are sister ships. All of the Company's drybulk vessels have fixed rate
employment contracts for an average period of 27 months.
Top Ships Press Release
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