Euroseas Ltd., an owner and operator of drybulk carriers, container ship and multipurpose vessels and provider of seaborne transportation for dry bulk and containerized cargoes, signed a Memorandum of Agreement to purchase the M/V Clan Gladiator, a Handysize container ship of 30,007 dwt and 1,742 teu built in 1992 in Germany for $25.7 million. The vessel is scheduled to be delivered to Euroseas around June 11, 2007, at the sellers' option. It will be financed partly by bank debt. The vessel is purchased with a period charter contract at a rate of $19,000 per day till April 2008.
Aristides Pittas, Chairman and CEO of Euroseas said: "We are pleased to announce the agreement to purchase the M/V Clan Gladiator our third vessel acquisition since we completed our public follow-on offering in February 2007. In today's high asset price environment our emphasis has been to grow our fleet by targeting primarily second hand mid-age vessels which we believe enable us to realize higher return on investment and maximize shareholder returns. Our strategy to invest in the broader dry cargo sector allows us to capture investment opportunities in both the dry bulk and containership markets and enhances our operational flexibility. As prices for containerships have not followed yet the rally we have recently seen in bulk carrier prices our last 2 investments have both been in this sector which we believe has today a higher upside potential.
Clan Gladiator's employment contributes to our objective of seeking stable and predictable cash flows; after the incorporation of Clan Gladiator in our fleet, 90% and 39% of our capacity days will have already been fixed or secured under period charters in 2007 and 2008, respectively."