Maritrans Renews, Increases and Extends Revolving Credit Facility; Agreement Provides Additional Borrowing Capacity
October 14 2005 - 8:43AM
Business Wire
Comments on Post-OPA Voyage Plans for ALLEGIANCE Maritrans Inc.
(NYSE:TUG), a leading U.S. flag marine petroleum transportation
company, today announced the completion of an agreement with its
existing lenders, which amends its $40 million revolving credit
facility. The amended facility allows for $60 million of borrowing
capacity, with the ability to increase the amount to $120 million
through additional bank commitments in the future. The agreement
also extends the term of the commitments under the facility to
October 2010, from January 2007. The Company has borrowed funds
from time to time under the original $40 million facility, which
was put in place in November 2001. Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania
led the transaction and was joined by Bank of America, N.A.,
Hibernia National Bank and Sun Trust Bank, all of whom were
participants in the previous facility. Jonathan Whitworth, Chief
Executive Officer of Maritrans, commented, "We appreciate the
ongoing support from our banking partners, highlighting the
confidence they place in Maritrans and our strategy. The amended
facility provides Maritrans with increased financial flexibility as
we continue to position the Company for growth and enhanced
industry leadership." The amended facility provides more favorable
interest rates and covenants that are less restrictive than the
previous credit facility. The interest rate under the amended
credit facility will be at prime or LIBOR plus an applicable margin
that varies between 75 and 150 basis points, based on the Company's
financial performance. The facility continues to be secured by
first preferred ship mortgages on certain fleet vessels. Maritrans
also announced that it has booked a grain cargo voyage to Sri Lanka
for its tanker ALLEGIANCE. The ALLEGIANCE is a single-hulled tanker
that, in accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, will be
removed from oil-carrying service as of December 2005. As the
Company has reported in the past, Maritrans has been considering
alternative cargoes, including grain, MTBE and ethanol, in an
effort to extend the life and contribution from the tanker. This
voyage is expected to earn an accretive rate in excess of her
breakeven costs. The ALLEGIANCE has been engaged to carry grain
under a U.S. government charter in support of U.S. foreign aid
relief efforts. The ALLEGIANCE will load in November and is
scheduled to return to the U.S. by mid-January. ABOUT MARITRANS
Maritrans Inc. is a U.S. based company with a 77-year commitment to
building and operating petroleum transport vessels for the U.S.
domestic trade. With 16 units, Maritrans has the largest fleet in
its size category and one of the largest serving the U.S. coastwise
trade. The fleet consists of five oil tankers and eleven oceangoing
married tug/barge units with an aggregate oil-carrying capacity of
approximately 3.9 million barrels, of which 63 percent is
double-hulled. Maritrans has two primary areas of focus:
transporting refined products in the Gulf of Mexico to growth areas
such as Florida and supplying Philadelphia area refineries with
crude oil lightering from large foreign tankers. Maritrans is
headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and maintains an office in the
Philadelphia area. SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT The information in this
news release includes certain forward-looking statements. These
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, growth,
performance, and earnings per share or achievements to be
materially different from those expressed in or implied by such
forward-looking statements. These statements are based on
assumptions the Company believes are reasonable, but a variety of
factors could cause the Company's actual results, goals, targets or
objectives to differ materially from those contemplated, projected,
forecast, estimated, anticipated, planned or budgeted. Such factors
include, among others, changes in oil companies' decisions as to
the type and origination point of the crude that it processes,
changes in the amount of imported petroleum products, competition
for marine transportation, domestic oil consumption, the
continuation of federal law restricting United States
point-to-point maritime shipping to U.S. vessels (the Jones Act),
the timing and success of our double-hull rebuilding program,
demand for petroleum products, future spot market rates, demand for
our services, levels of foreign imports, changes in interest rates,
the effect of war or terrorist activities and the general
financial, economic, environmental and regulatory conditions
affecting the oil and marine transportation industry in general.
The Company is under no duty to update any of these forward-looking
statements after the date of this release to conform such
statements to actual results.
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