TOP Ships Inc. Announces Receipt of Nasdaq Notice


ATHENS, GREECE--(Marketwire - August 13, 2010) -  TOP Ships Inc. (NASDAQ: TOPS), an international provider of worldwide seaborne crude oil, petroleum products, and drybulk transportation services, announced today that it has received written notification from The Nasdaq Stock Market ("Nasdaq") dated August 12, 2010, indicating that because the closing bid price of the Company's common stock for the previous 30 consecutive business days was below the minimum $1.00 per share bid price requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Global Market, the Company is not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(a)(1). The applicable grace period to regain compliance is 180 days.

This notification has no effect on the listing of the Company's common stock at this time.

The Company intends to monitor the closing bid price of its common stock between now and February 8, 2011 and is considering its options in order to regain compliance with the Nasdaq Global Market minimum bid price requirement.

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 eight double-hull Handymax tankers and an average age of 3.4 years with a total carrying capacity of approximately 0.4 million dwt, of which 76%, in terms of dwt, are sister ships. Two of the Company's Handymaxes are on time charter contracts with an average term of 11 months with both of the time charters including profit sharing agreements above their base rates. Six of the Company's Handymax tankers are fixed on a bareboat charter basis with an average term of 7.7 years.

  • A fleet of five drybulk vessels with a total carrying capacity of approximately 0.3 million dwt and an average age of 9.3 years, of which 47%, in terms of dwt, are sister ships. All of the Company's drybulk vessels have fixed rate employment contracts for an average period of 24 months.

Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. 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 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," "may," "should," "expect," "pending" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.

In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, failure of a seller to deliver one or more vessels or of a buyer to accept delivery of one or more vessels, inability to procure acquisition financing, default by one or more charterers of our ships, changes in the demand for crude oil and petroleum products, changes in demand for dry bulk shipping capacity, changes in our operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for our vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hires 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 Information:

Contacts:

Investor Relations / Media:
Ramnique Grewal
Vice President
Capital Link, Inc.
230 Park Avenue, Suite 1536
New York, N.Y. 10169
Tel.: (212) 661-7566
Fax: (212) 661-7526
E-Mail: topships@capitallink.com

Company:
Alexandros Tsirikos
Chief Financial Officer
TOP Ships Inc.
1, Vassilissis Sofias Str. & Meg.
Alexandrou Str.
151 24, Maroussi, Greece
Tel: +30 210 812 8180
Email: atsirikos@topships.org