TOP Ships Announces Delivery of Its Third and Fourth Newbuilding Vessels

ATHENS, Greece, March 26  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TOP Ships Inc. (NASDAQ: TOPS) announced today that it has taken delivery of the M/Ts "IONIAN WAVE" and "TYRRHENIAN WAVE" from SPP Plant & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd of the Republic of Korea.

The "IONIAN WAVE" and the "TYRRHENIAN WAVE" are the third and fourth of six 50,000 dwt product / chemical tankers to be delivered within the first and second quarter of 2009. The "IONIAN WAVE" and the "TYRRHENIAN WAVE" have entered into respective bareboat time-charter employments for a minimum period of seven years at a daily rate of $14,300, with three successive one-year options at a higher daily rate.

About TOP Ships Inc.

TOP Ships Inc., formerly known as TOP Tankers Inc., is an international provider of worldwide seaborne crude oil and petroleum products and drybulk transportation services. The Company operates a combined tanker and drybulk fleet as follows:

  --  A fleet of eleven double-hull handymax tankers, with a total carrying
      capacity of approximately 0.5 million dwt, of which 74% are sister
      ships. Seven of the Company's  handymaxes are on time charter
      contracts with an average term of one year with all of the time
      charters including profit sharing agreements above their base rates.
      Four of the Company's handymax tankers are fixed on a bareboat charter
      basis with an average term of eight and a half years.
  --  Two newbuilding product tankers, which are expected to be delivered in
      the first half of 2009. All the expected newbuildings have fixed rate
      bareboat employment agreements for a period of ten years.
  --  A fleet of five drybulk vessels with a total carrying capacity of
      approximately 0.3 million dwt, of which 47% are sister ships. All of
      the Company's drybulk vessels have fixed rate employment contracts for
      an average period of 24 months.


  Forward-Looking Statement


Certain statements and information included in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business.  Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance and may include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.

The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe," "anticipate," "intends," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "plan," "potential," "will," "may," "should," "expect," "pending" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

Important factors that, in our view, could affect the matters discussed in these forward-looking statements include general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in the demand for our vessels, offers that may be received from third parties, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, and other factors. Please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties.

  Contact:   Michael Mason (investors)
             Allen & Caron Inc
             212 691 8087
             

DATASOURCE: TOP Ships Inc.



CONTACT:  investors, Michael Mason of Allen & Caron Inc, [phone],

, for TOP Ships Inc.



Web Site:  http://www.topships.org/ 

Copyright