Stelmar Shipping Ltd. announced that it has secured
time charter contracts for two of its existing double hull Panamax tankers, the Polys and the Cleliamar. Both tankers, which are currently under time charters until the end of 2002, have been renewed on one-year profitable contracts with Adam Maritime Corporation.
Peter R. Goodfellow, CEO and president commented, "Stelmar has exceeded its time charter coverage goal for 2002 and is now focused on increasing its coverage for 2003 and beyond. We will continue to sign profitable time charters for appropriate periods that enable us to provide our shareholders with significant earnings visibility, while allowing us to benefit from higher rates when the market rebounds. With the renewals of the Polys and Cleliamar, we have secured 57 percent of our fleet's net operating days for 2003 on profitable contracts, representing $102 million in revenues. For 2004, we have already secured 27 percent of the fleet's net operating days, equivalent to $58 million in revenues."
Goodfellow continued, "Stelmar's ability to maintain profitability in a difficult tanker market is attributable to our continued success in signing profitable time charters. We are pleased that for the third quarter ended September 2002, Stelmar will post its thirty-first consecutive quarter of profitability and the Company's seventh since going public in March 2001. For the third quarter, we expect to earn between $0.72 and $0.74 per diluted share."