For: B+H Ocean Carriers Ltd.
From: Navinvest Marine Services (
The
Sail Loft
B+H Ocean
Carriers Ltd. (ASE:BHO) announced today that it had acquired a 98,000dwt OBO,
or combination carrier, committed to a Time Charter at $27,000 from delivery
through March 13, 2006, plus or minus one month. The vessel will be delivered
to the Company during April. This vessel, to be renamed "SACHUEST", has
some particularly attractive attributes in the present market environment, the
Company said, including the ability to trade as both a tanker and a dry bulk
carrier, plus the fact that it has 24,227 tons of steel with a present salvage value of
almost $10 million. The Company stated that it estimates that the vessel will
generate EBITDA at a rate slightly in excess of $7 million on an annualized
basis, excluding the time and expense for its scheduled drydocking in the third
quarter of 2004. The Company added that for the twenty-four
month period of the present charter, it expects the vessel to contribute
annualized average earnings of
approximately $1.00 per share. The Company cautioned that these forward-looking
statements are based upon estimated vessel operating expenses and drydocking
time and expenses, which may vary from the estimates.
The
Company added that it is refinancing its present fleet mortgage to $36 million
up from the present $17 million to provide the predominant portion of the cost
of the acquisition. It also stated that it had agreed in principle with an
institutional provider of funds on a mezzanine facility for partial
funding of further vessel acquisitions, with details and documentation as yet
to be agreed. The Company continues to seek investment opportunities comparable
to the one just concluded, which it believes would be
comparably accretive to EBITDA and earnings.
The
Company’s Chairman, Michael S. Hudner, noted that the year 2003 was
transformational for the Company. He added
that the combination of the retirement of the Equimar bond indenture last April
and the sale of five vessels last summer had effectively repositioned the
Company to allow it to commence its fleet renewal and expansion program and to
participate more fully in the current buoyant freight markets in international
shipping. The Company further announced that it has released its December 31,
2003 20-F. The Company’s results for 2003 include a
non-cash, non-recurring loss of $16,188,000 from the sale of five vessels,
including four of the smallest and oldest vessels in the Company’s fleet at
that time, which consequently resulted in a net loss for the year of
$13,057,000. Earnings for the prior
period ending December 31, 2002 were $4,084,000. The Company also noted that during the
thirty-eight months from November, 2000 to January, 2004, it had succeeded in
reducing a total of approximately $160 million of Senior Secured Debt to $17
million, which is 50% of the present fleet’s salvage value, in preparation for
its fleet renewal and expansion program which has now commenced with the
purchase of SACHUEST.
The Company is an owner of nine medium range product tankers
and expects to close on its purchase of one combination carrier in April.
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For further
information, contact the Company’s website:
www.bhocean.com.
Company
contact: John LeFrere
917.225.2800