ATHENS, Greece, March 20, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Paragon Shipping Inc. (Nasdaq:PRGN), a global shipping transportation company specializing in dry bulk cargoes, announced today that its' Board of Directors has appointed Mr. Dimitrios Sigalas to the Board of Directors as an independent, non-executive director, effective March 20, 2008. Mr. Sigalas replaces Mr. Ian Davis, who resigned from the Company's Board of Directors and from the Company's Audit Committee of which he served as Chairman, Compensation Committee and Nominating Committee, effective March 20, 2008 due to other business commitments.
Mr. Sigalas will also be appointed to the Company's Audit, Compensation and Nominating Committees, effective March 20, 2008. Mr. Nigel Cleave, a current member of the Company's Board of Directors and Audit Committee, is expected to be named Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Michael Bodouroglou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paragon, commented, "We welcome Mr. Sigalas to the Paragon Board of Directors. He has extensive experience in our industry and we look forward to working with him going forward. While we are sorry that Mr. Davis has stepped down as a non-executive director due to his other commitments, we thank him for his hard work and support and wish him the best of luck in his endeavors."
Mr. Sigalas has over 35 years of shipping experience. He has worked in various Athens-based ship-owning companies as Head of Chartering in both the dry and tanker sectors. Since 1988 he has worked as a journalist for the daily Greek newspaper "Kathimerini" and is responsible for shipping related subjects.
About Paragon Shipping Inc.
Paragon Shipping Inc. is an Athens, Greece-based international shipping company specializing in the transportation of drybulk cargoes. The Company's current fleet consists of eleven vessels with a total carrying capacity of 706,358 dwt. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.paragonship.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statement
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," "will," "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, 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.