FORM
6-K
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
Report
of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant
to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of
the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For
the month of July 2009
Commission
File Number: 000-50859
TOP
SHIPS INC.
(Translation
of registrant's name into English)
1
VAS. SOFIAS & MEG. ALEXANDROU STREET
151
24, MAROUSSI
ATHENS,
GREECE
(Address
of principal executive offices)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under
cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F
[ X ] Form 40-F [
]
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ________.
Note: Regulation S-T Rule
101(b)(1) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted solely
to provide an attached annual report to security holders.
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ________.
Note: Regulation S-T Rule
101(b)(7) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted to
furnish a report or other document that the registrant foreign private issuer
must furnish and make public under the laws of the jurisdiction in which the
registrant is incorporated, domiciled or legally organized (the registrant's
"home country"), or under the rules of the home country exchange on which the
registrant's securities are traded, as long as the report or other document is
not a press release, is not required to be and has not been distributed to the
registrant's security holders, and, if discussing a material event, has already
been the subject of a Form 6-K submission or other Commission filing on
EDGAR.
INFORMATION
CONTAINED IN THIS FORM 6-K REPORT
Attached
as Exhibit 1 is a press release of Top Ships Inc., dated July 6, 2009,
announcing the redelivery of its last leased vessel and the filing of its annual
report on Form 20-F.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized.
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TOP
SHIPS INC.
(registrant)
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Dated:
July 6, 2009
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By:
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/s/ Evangelos J. Pistiolis | |
| Evangelos J. Pistiolis | |||
| Chief Executive Officer | |||
EXHIBIT
1
NEWS RELEASE for July 6,
2009
Contact: Michael
Mason
(investors) Alexandros
Tsirikos
Allen & Caron
Inc TOP
Ships Inc.
212 691
8087
011 30 210 812
8180
michaelm@allencaron.com atsirikos@topships.org
TOP
SHIPS ANNOUNCES REDELIVERY OF ITS LAST LEASED VESSEL AND FILING OF ITS ANNUAL
REPORT ON FORM 20-F
Athens, Greece - July 6, 2009.
Top Ships Inc. (NasdaqGS:TOPS) (the "Company" or "Top Ships"), a global provider
of marine transportation services, announced today it has redelivered the MT
Relentless (DWT 47,081) to its owners and paid a termination fee of $2.5
million. The termination fee and redelivery of the vessel were part of the
termination agreement signed in April, 2009. This was the last leased vessel in
Top Ships' fleet.
Additionally,
Top Ships announced that it has filed its Annual Report on Form 20-F, on June
29, 2009, for the year ended 2008. The Annual Report is available for download
on the Company's website, www.topships.org. Any shareholder may receive a hard
copy of the Company's complete Annual Report, which includes the Company's
complete 2008 audited financial statements, free of charge upon request. The
audit opinion of Deloitte, Hadjipavlou, Sofianos and Cambanis S.A. regarding the
2008 financial statements of the Company which were included in the Company's
Annual Report on Form 20-F, are unqualified. However, the opinion includes an
explanatory "going concern" paragraph which states:
"The
accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company
will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 3 to the
consolidated financial statements, the Company's inability to comply with
financial covenants under its current loan agreements as of December 31, 2008
and its negative working capital position raise substantial doubt about its
ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans concerning
these matters are also discussed in Note 3 to the financial
statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments
that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty."
Investors
are urged to read the full text of the Company's Report on Form 20-F, including
Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements referred to above.
Evangelos
Pistiolis, Chief Executive Officer of Top Ships, commented: "The redelivery of
the M/T Relentless marks the completion of our fleet renewal strategy that
started almost two years ago. The company is now left with very young
tonnage and good charters which is the right mix to have during these difficult
market conditions."
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:
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A
fleet of seven double-hull Handymax tankers, with a total carrying
capacity of approximately 0.3 million dwt, of which 73% are sister ships.
Two of the Company's Handymaxes are on time charter contracts with an
average term of thirteen months with both of the time charters including
profit sharing agreements above their base rates. Five of the Company's
Handymax tankers are fixed on a bareboat charter basis with an average
term of eight and a half years.
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One
newbuilding product tanker, which is expected to be delivered in 2009. The
expected newbuilding has a fixed rate bareboat employment agreement for a
period of ten years.
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A
fleet of five drybulk vessels with a total carrying capacity of
approximately 0.3 million dwt, of which 47% are sister ships. All of the
Company's drybulk vessels have fixed rate employment contracts for an
average period of 27 months.
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Forward Looking
Statements
Certain
statements and information included in this release constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. 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 reflect our current views with respect to future
events and financial performance and may 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.
Important
factors that, in our view, could affect the matters discussed in these
forward-looking statements include, general market conditions, including
fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in the demand for our
vessels, offers that may be received from third parties, potential liability
from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political
conditions, 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.
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