PSL News Update - Longer Term Contracts as of 31st March 2012

In continuation of our earlier messages on the captioned subject, we would like to give you the updated forward time charter cover position for our Company.  Based on available data, as of the 31^st March 2012, the forward charter book for PSL is as follows:

Year                                         2012                 2013                 2014                 2015                 2016

Total Available Days                 11,189              15,342              16,425              16,425               16,470

Fixed T/C Days                         2,994                2,243                2,153                1,825                1,830

%age Fixed T/C Days                27%                  15%                  13%                  11%               11%

Av. T/C Rate/Day in USD           12,238              14,134              14,411              14,098               14,098

Contract value USD Millions       $37m                $32m                $31m                $26m                $26m

As can be seen, our current and forward four year (2012 to 2016) rolling book is currently at the 15% level with a visible revenue stream of USD 152 million.  

The BDI plunged to 647 points to an almost all time low in early February 2012.   The index has thereafter recovered partially to reach 934 points by the end of Q1.  With rates and the BDI being so low we will have to wait out the current uncertain period before re-employing this strategy to lock in longer term contracts in the future when the BDI starts to clearly move in an upward direction.  

Please bear in mind that we have, to date, re-sold five of the 18 bulkers on order at ABG. We have purchased 4 re-sale Supras from China in Q4’10 for delivery during 2012.  We have subsequently purchased 2 additional brand new Supras from China in Q3’11.  We have also purchased 2 X 34K second-hand 2005 Japanese built ships in Q4’11 and 3X30K second hand ships built in 2008/2009 in Q1 2012.  Please keep in mind that as a result of these second hand/re-sale purchases the total available days in the above table will keep increasing due to these additional ships but fixed T/C days will not increase proportionately.  The figures in the above table do not assume any further sales of any of our existing ships, or any purchases of second-hand or new build re-sale ships as replacements, other than those already stated in this paragraph.

Should you have any queries and or clarifications, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned.

We will, as usual, update this message at the end of each subsequent quarter.

Regards,

Khalid Hashim

PSL News Update - Longer Term Contracts as of 30th September 2011

In continuation of our earlier messages on the captioned subject, we would like to give you the updated forward time charter cover position for our Company.  Based on available data, as of the 30^th September 2011, the forward charter book for PSL is as follows:

Year                                         2011                 2012                 2013                 2014                 2015

Total Available Days                  8,153                12,042              15,721              16,790              16,790

Fixed T/C Days                         4,531                2,742                2,524                2,518                2,190

%age Fixed T/C Days                56%                  23%                  16%                  15%                  13%

Av. T/C Rate/Day in USD           12,414              13,736              14,642              14,757              14,548

Contract value USD Millions       $56m                $38m                $37m                $37m                $32m

As can be seen, our current and forward four year (2011 to 2015) rolling book is currently at the % level with a visible revenue stream of USD million.  When freight rates move in an upward direction, we effectively locked in rates by putting away the spot ships for longer term charters at healthy rates.  This policy was very successfully employed over the last few years and allowed us to ride out the volatile nature of the spot market with relative ease. 

The BDI plunged to almost all time lows in early December 2008 and then recovered sharply in 2009 and 2010 before steadily falling in the first half of 2011 before making a large recovery, on the back of the Cape sector alone, leaving the market in a more confused state now than ever before.   As a result we will have to wait out the current uncertain period before re-employing this strategy in the future when the BDI starts to clearly move in an upward direction.  

Please bear in mind that we have re-sold three of the 18 bulkers on order at ABG and purchased 4 re-sale Supras from China in Q4’10 for delivery during 2012.  We have subsequently purchased 3 additional re-sale Supras from China in Q3’11 for physical delivery in SH October’11.  The figures in the above table do not assume any further sales of any of our existing or new ships on order nor any purchases of second-hand or new build re-sale ships as replacements.

Should you have any queries and or clarifications, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned.

We will update this message at the end of each subsequent quarter.

Regards,

Khalid Hashim

PSL News Update - Longer Term Contracts as of 31st March 2011

In continuation of our earlier messages on the captioned subject, we would like to give you the updated forward time charter cover position for our Company. Based on available data, as of the 31st March 2011, the forward charter book for PSL is as follows:

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Total Available Days 8,084 11,138 14,626 15,695 15,695
Fixed T/C Days 5,053 3,108 2,889 2,883 2,555
%age Fixed T/C Days 63% 28% 20% 18% 16%
Av. T/C Rate/Day in USD 13,084 14,098 14,915 15,016 14,871
Contract value USD Millions $66m $44m $43m $43m $38m

As can be seen, our current and forward four year (2011 to 2015) rolling book is currently at the 29% level with a visible revenue stream of USD 234 million. When freight rates move in an upward direction, as the BDI had done till the end of May 2008, we effectively locked in rates by putting away the spot ships for longer term charters at healthy rates. This policy was very successfully employed over the last few years and allowed us to ride out the volatile nature of the spot market with relative ease.

The BDI plunged to almost all time lows in early December 2008 and then recovered sharply in 2009 leaving the market in a more confused state now than ever before. As a result we will have to wait out the current uncertain period before re-employing this strategy in the future when the BDI starts to clearly move in an upward direction.

Please bear in mind that we have re-sold three of the 18 bulkers on order at ABG and purchased 4 re-sale Supras from China. The figures in the above table do not assume any further sales of any of our existing or new ships on order nor any purchases of second-hand or new build re-sale ships as replacements except the 2 second hand ship purchases that we have previously announced, the 15 bulker ships that we have contracted at ABG, the 3 firm Cement Ships at ABG where we have signed long term contracts with our existing client, and the 4 Chinese built Supra re-sale ships of 57,000 DWT each scheduled for delivery during 2012.

Should you have any queries and or clarifications, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned.

We will update this message at the end of each subsequent quarter.

Regards,
Khalid Hashim