NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE CELEBRATES THE RETURN OF TWO MORE SHIPS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), the innovator in global cruise travel, today marked another milestone in its Great Cruise Comeback with the redeployment of Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Getaway in the Mediterranean.

SMM Maritime Industry Report: “Shipowners are back”

An industry on the go: After years of inaction, owners are ordering ships again.

Statement Regarding Celestyal Cruises Sale of the Experience

Due to current market conditions resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Celestyal Cruises has reviewed its forward-looking capacity requirements.

RINA Expands its Digital Offerings with the Acquisition of Logimatic Solutions

RINA has announced its acquisition of the entire share capital of Logimatic Solutions, a leading software company, headquartered in Denmark. The company, with a turnover of about 6 million euros, will be fully integrated within the RINA Group and its nearly 50 employees will continue in the current structure from its offices in Denmark, Singapore and Chile.

Touted as clean, ‘blue’ hydrogen may be worse than gas or coal

“Blue” hydrogen – an energy source that involves a process for making hydrogen by using methane in natural gas – is being lauded by many as a clean, green energy to help reduce global warming. But Cornell and Stanford University researchers believe it may harm the climate more than burning fossil fuel.

Castor Maritime Inc. Reports $6.5 Million net profit for the Three Months Ended June 30, 2021 and $7.6 Million net profit for the Six Months Ended June 30, 2021

Castor Maritime Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRM), (“Castor” or the “Company”), a diversified global shipping company, today announced its results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021. Highlights of the Second Quarter Ended June 30, 2021: ▪ Revenues, net: $21.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to $2.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020; ▪ Net income/loss: Net income of $6.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to net loss of $0.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020; ▪ Earnings/Loss per common share(1) : $0.07 earnings per share for the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to loss per share of $0.12 for the three months ended June 30, 2020; ▪ EBITDA(2) : $10.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to $1.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020; ▪ Cash and restricted cash of $42.7 million as of June 30, 2021, as compared to $9.4 million as of December 31, 2020; ▪ During the second quarter of 2021 and as of the date of this press release, we have taken successful delivery of 12 vessels consisting of 4 Kamsarmax and 2 Panamax dry bulk carriers as well as 1 Aframax, 3 Aframax / LR2 and 2 MR1 tankers. We expect three remaining acquisitions to conclude in the third quarter of this year, subject to customary closing conditions. On a fully delivered basis, Castor will own a diversified fleet of 26 vessels with an aggregate capacity of 2.2 million dwt, having more than quadrupled its fleet size since December 31, 2020;
On June 14, 2021, we received written notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) that the Company has regained compliance with the Nasdaq's minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market; and ▪ In June 2021, we entered into an at-the-market (“ATM”) sales agreement for the offer and sale from time to time of our common shares, having an aggregate offering amount of up to $300.0 million. Page 2 Earnings Highlights of the Six Months Ended June 30, 2021: ▪ Revenues, net: $28.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to $5.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020; ▪
Net income/loss: Net income of $7.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to net loss of $0.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020; ▪ Earnings/Loss per common share(1) : $0.10 earnings per share for the six months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to loss per share of $0.50 for the six months ended June 30, 2020; and ▪ EBITDA(2) : $12.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to $1.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020. (1) All share and per share amounts disclosed throughout this press release and in the financial information presented in Appendix B have been retroactively updated to reflect the one-for-ten (1-for-10) reverse stock split effected on May 28, 2021, unless otherwise indicated. (2) EBITDA is not a recognized measure under United States generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). Please refer to Appendix B for the definition and reconciliation of this measure to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
Management Commentary:
Mr. Petros Panagiotidis, Chief Executive Officer of Castor commented: “The first six months of 2021 was a transformational period for our Company, as we were able to raise $262.5 million of equity and $33.3 million of debt and grow our fleet from 6 vessels at the end of 2020 to 26 vessels on a fully delivered basis. Strong demand for dry bulk transportation services has resulted in robust freight rates, with the upward momentum expected to be sustained by the tight vessel supply and historically low newbuilding orderbook. Following our timely acquisitions, Castor is well positioned to take advantage of this strong market with a dry bulk fleet consisting of 18 vessels, on a fully delivered basis. At the same time, most of our newly acquired tanker vessels are in either term or pool employment ensuring a high utilization for that part of our fleet.”

Earnings Commentary: Second Quarter ended June 30, 2021 and 2020 Results Vessel revenues, net of charterers’ commissions, for the three months ended June 30, 2021, increased to $21.8 million from $2.6 million in the same period of 2020. This increase was largely driven by the increase in our Ownership days (defined below) from 273 in the three months ended June 30, 2020 to 1,477 in the three months ended June 30, 2021, following the acquisition and delivery to our fleet of 20 vessels since June 30, 2020. The increase in vessel revenues during the three months ended June 30, 2021 as compared with the same period of 2020 was further underpinned by a stronger dry bulk shipping market resulting in higher daily TCE earned on average for our fleet The increase in operating expenses by $6.8 million, from $1.2 million in the second quarter of 2020 to $8.0 million in the second quarter of 2021, as well as the increase in vessels’ depreciation costs by $2.5 million, from $0.3 million in the second quarter of 2020 to $2.8 million in the second quarter of 2021, mainly reflect the increase in our Ownership days following the expansion of our fleet.
Management fees in the second quarter of 2021 amounted to $1.8 million, whereas, in the same period of 2020 management fees totalled $0.1 million. This increase in management fees is primarily due to the sizeable increase of our fleet, resulting in a substantial increase in our Ownership days for which our managers charge us with a daily management fee, following the acquisitions discussed above. Effective September 1, 2020, the daily management fee for the technical management of our fleet by Pavimar S.A. was increased from $500 to $600 per vessel, and the daily management fee for the commercial and administrative management of our fleet by Castor Ships S.A. was set to $250 per vessel. General and administrative expenses in the second quarter of 2021 amounted to $0.7 million, whereas, in the same period of 2020 general and administrative expenses totalled $0.1 million. This increase stemmed from incurred legal and other corporate fees primarily related to the growth of our company and the $0.3 million quarterly flat fee we pay Castor Ships S.A. with effect from September 1, 2020. During the second quarter of 2021, we incurred net interest costs and finance costs amounting to $0.5 million compared to $0.8 million during the same period in 2020.