General Maritime sells four single skin vessels

Three of the single hulled Suezmax tankers being bought by Frontline Ltd. (NYSE: FRO) are coming to it from General Maritime Corporation (NYSE: GMR).

General Maritime announced yesterday that it had sold four single-hull vessels.

The Harriet (1989-built Suezmax) is being sold to Tanker Pacific and is expected to be delivered in mid-August. The Transporter (1989-built Suezmax), the Centaur (1990-built Suezmax) and the Traveller (1990-built Suezmax) are being sold en bloc to Frontline Ltd. Delivery of these three vessels is expected to take place between August 15 and September 15, 2004.

General Maritime expects to realize a net gain of approximately $8.5 million in the third quarter of 2004 from the sale of the four vessels. The company expects depreciation expense to fall by approximately $3.3 million per quarter through 2005 and $2.5 million per quarter thereafter. As of July 1, 2004, pro-forma the sale of the vessels, the company's net debt to capitalization stood at 48%.

Peter C. Georgiopoulos, General Maritime's Chairman, CEO and President, commented, "These sales are part of General Maritime's program to modernize its fleet. With the sale of these four vessels, we have increased the percentage of double-hull or double-sided vessels in our fleet to 89% while improving the fleet's age profile from 10.3 years to 9.8 years as of July 1, 2004. In keeping with our prudent financial management and track record of de-leveraging following a major acquisition, we will utilize the proceeds of these transactions to further pay down debt, which will serve to enhance the company's financial strength and flexibility."