Costamare Sells "Gifted" and "Genius I" for Demolition, Buys 2 More Containerships

Costamare Inc. (NYSE: CMRE), an Athens-based owner and charterer of containerships announced today that it has agreed to sell two 1984-built containerships, the Gifted, and the Genius I, for demolition. At the same time, Costamar agreed to purchase two 1998-built, 3,842 TEU vessels, the Bunga Raya Dua, and the Bunga Raya Satu, which will replace the vessels sold in their respective charters.

The two vessels will be renamed Koroni and Kyparissia respectively.

Gregory Zikos, Costamare’s Chief Financial Officer remarked:

“We continue to deliver on our fleet renewal program by taking advantage of attractive steel prices and second-hand, charter-free ship values. With an incremental cost of only approximately US $6.3 million per vessel, we are extending the useful life of older assets by substituting them for vessels that are 14 years younger, larger and with better specifications. The transaction enhances our earnings potential and re-chartering upside. We expect to realize book gains of approximately US $4.4 million in aggregate from the above disposals.”

The total acquisition cost for the two vessels is approximately US $24.9 million and will be partly funded with debt drawn from a currently committed and undrawn credit facility. The total sale price for the Gifted and Genius I is approximately US $12.3 million. The newly acquired vessels are expected to be delivered within May 2012 and will replace the Gifted and Genius I in their respective charter party agreements. At the same time, Costamare has agreed to extend these two charters for period of approximately 18 months, starting from November 2012, at an average daily rate of approximately US $11,150.

Costamare owns a fleet of 56 vessels aggregating approximately 326,000 TEU, including 10 newbuild containerships on order and one second hand vessel to be delivered, ranging from about 1,000 TEUs to about 9,500 TEUs capacity.