CRUDE CARRIERS ANNOUNCES DELIVERY OF M/T ‘AIAS’ AND COMMENCEMENT OF 12-MONTH OPTION PERIOD TO ACQUIRE THE M/T ‘ATLANTAS’

News Release Crude Carriers Corp June 4, 2010

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delivery of the M/T Waltz to be renamed M/T ‘Aias’ (150,096 dwt) yesterday, June 3, 2010.
In addition,
the 12-month fixed-price option to acquire the M/T ‘Atlantas’ from
Capital Maritime & Trading Corp.
commenced on June 1, 2010.
DELIVERY OF ITS FOURTH VESSEL THE M/T
AIAS
The M/T ‘Aias’, a modern, high-specification Suezmax-class oil
tanker was built in 2008 at Universal
Shipbuilding Corporation in Japan, the same yard as its sister ship M/T Amoureux
which was delivered to
the Company on May 10, 2010. The vessel was acquired at a purchase
price of $66.2 million, a cost
significantly below the average 10-year historical values and is
the fourth vessel of the Company's fleet to
be delivered. The acquisition will be financed with cash and with
$59.6 million of debt drawn down from
the Company’s $150.0 million revolving credit facility. The vessel
was delivered as planned within the
expected time frame, became immediately available for operations
and is currently trading in the spot
market.
The Company expects to take delivery of the Very Large Crude
Carrier (VLCC) M/T ‘Achilleas’ in the
second half of June. Following its delivery, the Company’s fleet
will consist of five vessels, comprised of
two VLCCs and three Suezmax-class tankers with a weighted average
age of approximately 1.2 years
and a total carrying capacity of approximately 1,060,000
dwt.
COMMENCEMENT OF 12-MONTH OPTION PERIOD FOR THE ACQUISITION OF THE
VLCC M/T ATLANTAS
The newly built VLCC M/T ‘Atlantas’ was delivered to Capital
Maritime & Trading Corp. from Daewoo
Shipyard in South Korea on June 1, 2010, and hence the zero-cost
option granted to Crude Carriers
Corp. to acquire the vessel is expected to expire on June 2,
2011.
As announced in the Company’s press release of May 4, 2010, Crude
Carriers Corp. secured a 12-month
option from the date of delivery, to purchase the vessel at the
same acquisition price of $108 million plus
delivery costs. The option is exercisable at the sole discretion
of the Company's Board of Directors.
Immediately upon its delivery from the shipyard the 320,000 dwt
vessel commenced a voyage charter
with BP Shipping Ltd.
Mr. Evangelos Marinakis, Crude Carriers’ Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer, commented: “We are
very pleased with the successful delivery of the M/T ‘Aias’, thus
completing the acquisition of the two
additional Suezmaxes which we acquired shortly after our IPO. In
addition, the commencement of our
zero-cost, 12-month option to acquire the M/T ‘Atlantas’ at a
fixed price provides our shareholders with
visibility of the next step in our growth path. We believe that
both the recent acquisition of our two
Suezmaxes and the 12-month purchase option were concluded at
attractive prices compared to current
market levels and are in line with our strategy of acquiring
modern high-specification vessels at opportune
times in the cycle. We are committed to building Crude Carriers
into an industry leader and positioning
the company to take advantage of the favorable fundamentals of the crude oil
tanker market.”</DIV></BODY></HTML>