Item 3.           Key Information

A.           Selected Financial Data

The following table sets forth our selected consolidated financial data and other operating data as of and for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The following information should be read in conjunction with "Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects" and the consolidated financial statements and related notes included herein. The following selected consolidated financial data are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP.

3.A.(i)  STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

_______________________

(1)

Cash compensation to members of our senior management and our directors amounted to $6.8 million, $5.7 million, $4.8 million, $5.8 million, and $8.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively.

(2)

All previously reported share and per share amounts have been restated to reflect the reverse stock split.

 

 

						For the Year Ended December 31,
(U.S. dollars in thousands)		2011				2012				2013				2014				2015
Net loss attributable to DryShips Inc.		$	(70,128	)		$	(246,778	)		$	(223,093	)		$	(47,512	)		$	(2,847,061	)
Add: Net interest expense			129,598				205,925				319,631				398,875				171,605
Add: Depreciation and amortization			274,281				335,458				357,372				449,792				227,652
Add: Income taxes			27,428				43,957				44,591				77,823				37,119
Add: Net income/(loss) attributable to Non controlling interests			22,842				(41,815	)			25,065				105,532				38,975
EBITDA		$	384,021			$	296,747			$	523,566			$	984,510			$	(2,371,710	)

Drybulk Carrier Segment						Year Ended December 31,
(In thousands of U.S. dollars, except for TCE rates,
which are expressed in U.S. dollars and voyage days)		2011				2012				2013				2014				2015
Voyage revenues (8)		$	365,361			$	227,141			$	191,024			$	205,630			$	138,828
Voyage expenses			(20,047	)			(20,064	)			(28,886	)			(34,044	)			(23,619	)
Time charter equivalent revenues		$	345,314			$	207,077			$	162,138			$	171,586			$	115,209
Total voyage days for drybulk fleet			12,831				13,027				13,442				13,889				12,562
Time charter equivalent (TCE) rate		$	26,912			$	15,896			$	12,062			$	12,354			$	9,171

 

 

 

B.           Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

C.           Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

D.           Risk Factors

Some of the following risks relate principally to the industries in which we operate and our business in general. Other risks relate principally to the securities market and ownership of our common shares. The occurrence of any of the events described in this section could significantly and negatively affect our business, financial condition, operating results, cash flows or our ability to pay dividends, if any, in the future, or the trading price of our common shares.

Risk Factors Relating to the Drybulk Shipping Industry and Offshore Support Vessel Industry

Charterhire rates for drybulk carriers are volatile and remain significantly below their historical highs, which has had and may continue to have an adverse effect on our revenues, earnings and profitability and our ability to comply with our loan covenants.

The degree of charterhire rate volatility among different types of drybulk vessels has varied widely; however, the prolonged downturn in the drybulk charter market has severely affected the entire drybulk shipping industry and charterhire rates for drybulk vessels have declined significantly from historically high levels. The Baltic Dry Index, or the BDI, an index published daily by the Baltic Exchange Limited, a London-based membership organization that provides daily shipping market information to the global investing community, is a daily average of charter rates for key drybulk routes, which has long been viewed as the main benchmark to monitor the movements of the drybulk vessel charter market and the performance of the overall drybulk shipping market. The BDI declined 94% in 2008 from a peak of 11,793 in May 2008 to a low of 663 in December 2008 and has remained volatile since then.  The BDI recorded an all-time low of 290 on February 10, 2016 and there can be no assurance that the drybulk charter market will increase, and the market could decline further.

The decline and volatility in charter rates has been due to various factors, including the over-supply of drybulk vessels, the lack of trade financing for purchases of commodities carried by sea, which resulted in a significant decline in cargo shipments. The decline and volatility in charter rates in the drybulk market also affects the value of our drybulk vessels, which follows the trends of drybulk charter rates, and earnings on our charters, and similarly, affects our cash flows, liquidity and compliance with the covenants contained in our loan agreements.  If low charter rates in the drybulk market continue or decline further for any significant period, this could have an adverse effect on our vessel values and our ability to continue as a going concern and comply with the financial covenants in our loan agreements. In such a situation, unless our lenders were willing to provide waivers of covenant compliance or modifications to our covenants, our lenders could accelerate our debt and we could face the loss of our vessels. In addition, the decline in the drybulk carrier charter market has had and may continue to have additional adverse consequences for the drybulk shipping industry, including an absence of financing for vessels, no active secondhand market for the sale of vessels, charterers seeking to renegotiate the rates for existing time charters, and widespread loan covenant defaults in the drybulk shipping industry. Accordingly, the value of our common shares could be substantially reduced or eliminated.

Because we currently employ 16 of our vessels in the spot market and pursuant to short-term time charters, we are exposed to changes in spot market and short-term charter rates for drybulk carriers and such changes may affect our earnings and the value of our drybulk carriers at any given time. In addition, we have four vessels scheduled to come off of their current charters in 2016 for which we will be seeking new employment. We may not be able to successfully charter our vessels in the future or renew existing charters at rates sufficient to allow us to meet our obligations. Fluctuations in charter rates result from changes in the supply of and demand for vessel capacity and changes in the supply and demand for the major commodities carried by water internationally. Because the factors affecting the supply of and demand for vessels are outside of our control and are unpredictable, the nature, timing, direction and degree of changes in industry conditions are also unpredictable.

Factors that influence demand for vessel capacity include:

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supply and demand for energy resources, commodities, semi-finished and finished consumer and industrial products;

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changes in the exploration or production of energy resources, commodities, semi-finished and finished consumer and industrial products;

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the location of regional and global exploration, production and manufacturing facilities;

 

 

 

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the location of consuming regions for energy resources, commodities, semi-finished and finished consumer and industrial products;

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the globalization of production and manufacturing;

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global and regional economic and political conditions, including armed conflicts, terrorist activities, embargoes and strikes;

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natural disasters and other disruptions in international trade;

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developments in international trade;

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changes in seaborne and other transportation patterns, including the distance cargo is transported by sea;

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environmental and other regulatory developments;

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currency exchange rates; and

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weather.

The factors that influence the supply of vessel capacity include:

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the number of newbuilding deliveries;

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port and canal congestion;

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the scrapping rate of older vessels;

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vessel casualties; and

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the number of vessels that are out of service.

In addition to the prevailing and anticipated freight rates, factors that affect the rate of newbuilding, scrapping and laying-up include newbuilding prices, secondhand vessel values in relation to scrap prices, costs of bunkers and other operating costs, costs associated with classification society surveys, normal maintenance and insurance coverage, the efficiency and age profile of the existing drybulk fleet in the market and government and industry regulation of maritime transportation practices, particularly environmental protection laws and regulations. These factors influencing the supply of and demand for shipping capacity are outside of our control, and we may not be able to correctly assess the nature, timing and degree of changes in industry conditions.

We anticipate that the future demand for our drybulk carriers will be dependent upon continued economic growth in the world's economies, including China and India, seasonal and regional changes in demand, changes in the capacity of the global drybulk carrier fleet and the sources and supply of drybulk cargoes to be transported by sea. Given the large number of new drybulk carriers currently on order with shipyards, the capacity of the global drybulk carrier fleet seems likely to increase and economic growth may not continue. Adverse economic, political, social or other developments could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

An over-supply of drybulk carrier capacity is expected to continue to prolong and further depress the current low charter rates and, in turn, continue to adversely affect our profitability.

The market supply of drybulk carriers has been increasing as a result of the delivery of numerous newbuilding orders over the last few years. Newbuildings have been delivered in significant numbers since the beginning of 2006 and, as of January 1, 2016, newbuilding orders had been placed for an aggregate of more than 16% of the existing global drybulk fleet, with deliveries expected during the next three years. Due to lack of financing many analysts expect significant cancellations and/or slippage of newbuilding orders. While vessel supply will continue to be affected by the delivery of new vessels and the removal of vessels from the global fleet, either through scrapping or accidental losses, an over-supply of dry bulk carrier capacity could exacerbate the recent decrease in charter rates or prolong the period during which low charter rates prevail. Currently, some of our spot market-related time charterers are at times unprofitable due the volatility associated with dry cargo freight rates. If market conditions persist or worsen, we may only be able to charter our vessels at reduced or unprofitable rates, or we may not be able to charter these vessels at all. The occurrence of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows, financial condition and ability to pay dividends.

Our offshore support vessels rely on the oil industry generally and the offshore drilling industry specifically, and volatility in the oil industry impacts demand for our services.

An increase in the supply of OSVs would likely have a negative effect on charter rates for our vessels, which could reduce our earnings.

 

In the last years, construction of OSVs has increased. The addition of new vessel capacity to the worldwide offshore supply vessel fleet or declining offshore oil drilling and production activities are likely to increase competition in those markets where we presently operate which could reduce day rates and utilization rates which would, in turn, affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The market values of our vessels may decrease, which could limit the amount of funds that we can borrow or cause us to continue to breach certain covenants in some of our credit facilities and we may incur a loss if we sell vessels following a decline in their market value.

The fair market values of our vessels are related to prevailing freight charter rates. However, while the fair market values of vessels and the freight charter market have a very close relationship as the charter market moves from trough to peak, the time lag between the effect of charter rates on market values of ships can vary.

The fair market values of our vessels have generally experienced high volatility, and you should expect the market values of our vessels to fluctuate depending on a number of factors including:

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prevailing level of charter rates;

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general economic and market conditions affecting the shipping industry;

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types and sizes of vessels;

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supply of and demand for vessels;

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other modes of transportation;

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cost of newbuildings;

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governmental and other regulations; and

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technological advances.

In addition, as vessels grow older, they generally decline in value. If the market values of our vessels, which are at relatively low levels, decrease further, we may continue to be in non- compliance with certain covenants in some of our credit facilities secured by mortgages on our drybulk vessels, and our lenders could accelerate our indebtedness or require us to pay down our indebtedness to a level where we are again in compliance with our loan covenants. If our indebtedness is accelerated, we may not be able to refinance our debt or obtain additional financing.

In addition, if we sell one or more of our vessels at a time when vessel prices have fallen and before we have recorded an impairment adjustment to our consolidated financial statements, the sale proceeds may be less than the vessel's carrying value on our consolidated financial statements, resulting in a loss and a reduction in earnings. Furthermore, if vessel values persist at their current levels or decline further, we may have to record an impairment adjustment in our financial statements which could adversely affect our financial results. Due to our decision to sell certain vessels and based on the agreed-upon sales price, an impairment charge of $43.5 million, for the year ended December 31, 2013, was recognized. Furthermore, as a result of the impairment review for the year ended December 31, 2014 it was determined that the carrying amount of one of our assets was not recoverable and, therefore, an impairment loss of $38.1 million was recognized. During 2015 and as a result of the impairment review performed, prior to the entering into agreements for the sale of our vessels and vessel owning companies it was determined that the carrying amount of one of our assets was not recoverable and, therefore, an impairment loss of $83.9 million was recognized. In addition, due to our decision to sell certain vessels and vessel owning companies and based on the agreed-upon sales price, as well as due to the reduction of the vessels' held for sale carrying amount to their fair value less cost to sell,  an impairment charge of $967.1 million was recognized, for the year ended December 31, 2015.

A further economic slowdown or changes in the economic and political environment in the Asia Pacific region could exacerbate the effect of recent slowdowns in the economies of the European Union and may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We anticipate a significant number of the port calls made by our vessels will continue to involve the loading or discharging of drybulk commodities and oil in ports in the Asia Pacific region. As a result, any negative changes in economic conditions in any Asia Pacific country, particularly in China, may exacerbate the effect of recent slowdowns in the economies of the European Union and may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as our future prospects. Before the global economic financial crisis that began in 2008, China had one of the world's fastest growing economies in terms of gross domestic product, or GDP, which had a significant impact on shipping demand. The quarterly year-over-year growth rate of China's GDP decreased to approximately 6.8% for the year ended December 31, 2015, as compared to approximately 7.2% for the year ended December 31, 2014, and continues to remain below pre-2008 levels. We cannot assure you that the Chinese economy will not experience a significant contraction in the future.  Although state-owned enterprises still account for a substantial portion of the Chinese industrial output, in general, the Chinese government is reducing the level of direct control that it exercises over the economy through state plans and other measures. There is an increasing level of freedom and autonomy in areas such as allocation of resources, production, pricing and management and a gradual shift in emphasis to a "market economy" and enterprise reform. Limited price reforms were undertaken with the result that prices for certain commodities are principally determined by market forces. Many of the reforms are unprecedented or experimental and may be subject to revision, change or abolition based upon the outcome of such experiments. If the Chinese government does not continue to pursue a policy of economic reform, the level of imports to and exports from China could be adversely affected by changes to these economic reforms by the Chinese government, as well as by changes in political, economic and social conditions or other relevant policies of the Chinese government, such as changes in laws, regulations or export and import restrictions. Notwithstanding economic reform, the Chinese government may adopt policies that favor domestic drybulk shipping and oil tanker companies and may hinder our ability to compete with them effectively. Moreover, the current economic slowdown in the economies of the European Union and other Asian countries may further adversely affect economic growth in China and elsewhere. In addition, concerns regarding the possibility of sovereign debt defaults by European Union member countries, including Greece, have disrupted financial markets throughout the world, may lead to weaker consumer demand in the European Union, the United States, and other parts of the world. The possibility of sovereign debt defaults by European Union member countries, including Greece, and the possibility of market reforms to float the Chinese renminbi, either of which development could weaken the Euro against the Chinese renminbi, could adversely affect consumer demand in the European Union. Moreover, the revaluation of the renminbi may negatively impact the United States' demand for imported goods, many of which are shipped from China. Such weak economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition and our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders. Our business, financial condition, results of operations, ability to pay dividends as well as our future prospects, will likely be materially and adversely affected by a further economic downturn in any of these countries.

If economic conditions throughout the world do not improve, this will impede our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Negative trends in the global economy that emerged in 2008 continue to adversely affect global economic conditions. In addition, the world economy is currently facing a number of new challenges, including uncertainty related to the continuing discussions in the United States regarding the federal debt ceiling and recent turmoil and hostilities in the Middle East, North Africa and other geographic areas and countries. The presence of the United States and other armed forces in Afghanistan and Syria, additional acts of terrorism and armed conflict around the world may contribute to further economic instability in global financial markets.

The United States, the European Union and other parts of the world have recently been or are currently in a recession and continue to exhibit weak economic trends. The current sovereign debt crisis in certain Eurozone countries, such as Greece, and concerns over debt levels of certain other European Union member states and in other countries around the world, as well as concerns about international banks, have led to increased volatility in global credit and equity markets. The credit markets in the United States and Europe have experienced significant contraction, deleveraging and reduced liquidity, and the United States federal and state governments and European authorities have implemented a broad variety of governmental action and/or new regulation of the financial markets and may implement additional regulations in the future.  Securities and futures markets and the credit markets are subject to comprehensive statutes, regulations and other requirements. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission, other regulators, self-regulatory organizations and exchanges are authorized to take extraordinary actions in the event of market emergencies, and may effect changes in law or interpretations of existing laws. Global financial markets and economic conditions have been, and continue to be, severely disrupted and volatile. Credit markets and the debt and equity capital markets have been exceedingly distressed and the uncertainty surrounding the future of the credit markets in the United States and the rest of the world has resulted in reduced access to credit worldwide. An extended period of deterioration in outlook for the world economy could reduce the overall demand for our services and could also adversely affect our ability to obtain financing on terms acceptable to us or at all.

We face risks attendant to changes in economic environments, changes in interest rates, and instability in the banking and securities markets around the world, among other factors. Major market disruptions and the current adverse changes in market conditions and regulatory climate in the United States and worldwide may adversely affect our business or impair our ability to borrow amounts under our credit facilities or any future financial arrangements. We cannot predict how long the current market conditions will last. However, these recent and developing economic and governmental factors, together with the concurrent decline in charter rates and vessel values, may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows, and the trading price of our common shares. In the absence of available financing, we also may be unable to take advantage of business opportunities or respond to competitive pressures.

In addition, as a result of the ongoing economic turmoil in Greece resulting from the sovereign debt crisis and the related austerity measures implemented by the Greek government, our operations in Greece may be subjected to new regulations that may require us to incur new or additional compliance or other administrative costs and may require that we pay to the Greek government new taxes or other fees. We also face the risk that strikes, work stoppages, civil unrest and violence within Greece may disrupt our shoreside operations and those of our managers located in Greece.

The current state of global financial markets and current economic conditions may adversely impact our ability to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms which may hinder or prevent us from expanding our business.

Global financial markets and economic conditions have been, and continue to be, volatile. Recently, the debt and equity capital markets have been severely distressed. These issues, along with significant write-offs in the financial services sector, the re-pricing of credit risk and the current weak economic conditions, have made, and will likely continue to make, it difficult to obtain additional financing. The current state of global financial markets and current economic conditions might adversely impact our ability to issue additional equity at prices which will not be dilutive to our existing shareholders or preclude us from issuing equity at all.

Also, as a result of concerns about the stability of financial markets generally and the solvency of counterparties specifically, the cost of obtaining money from the credit markets has increased as many lenders have increased margins or interest rates, enacted tighter lending standards, refused to refinance existing debt at all or on terms similar to current debt and reduced, and in some cases ceased, to provide funding to borrowers. Furthermore, certain banks that have historically been significant lenders to the shipping industry have reduced or ceased lending to the shipping industry. Due to these factors, we cannot be certain that additional financing will be available if needed and to the extent required, on acceptable terms or at all. If additional financing is not available when needed, or is available only on unfavorable terms, we may be unable to meet our obligations as they come due or we may be unable to enhance our existing business or otherwise take advantage of business opportunities as they arise.

The instability of the euro or the inability of Eurozone countries to refinance their debts could have a material adverse effect on our revenue, profitability and financial position.

As a result of the credit crisis in Europe, in particular in Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, the European Commission created the European Financial Stability Facility, or the EFSF, and the European Financial Stability Mechanism, or the EFSM, to provide funding to Eurozone countries in financial difficulties that seek such support. In March 2011, the European Council agreed on the need for Eurozone countries to establish a permanent stability mechanism, the European Stability Mechanism, or the ESM, which was activated by mutual agreement, to assume the role of the EFSF and the EFSM in providing external financial assistance to Eurozone countries after June 2013. Despite these measures, concerns persist regarding the debt burden of certain Eurozone countries and their ability to meet future financial obligations and the overall stability of the euro. An extended period of adverse development in the outlook for European countries could reduce the overall demand for drybulk cargoes and oil and gas and for our services. These potential developments, or market perceptions concerning these and related issues, could affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flow.

Charterers have been placed under significant financial pressure, thereby increasing our charter counterparty risk.

The continuing weakness in demand for drybulk shipping services and any future declines in such demand could result in financial challenges faced by our charterers and may increase the likelihood of one or more of our charterers being unable or unwilling to pay us contracted charter rates. We expect to generate most of our revenues from these charters and if our charterers fail to meet their obligations to us, we will sustain significant losses which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Acts of piracy on ocean-going vessels have had and may continue to have an adverse effect on our business.

Acts of piracy have historically affected ocean-going vessels trading in regions of the world such as South China Sea, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Guinea. Sea piracy incidents continue to occur, particularly in the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, and increasingly in the Gulf of Guinea, with tankers particularly vulnerable to such attacks.   In February 2009, the drybulk vessel Saldanha , which is owned by our subsidiary, Team-Up Owning Company Limited, was seized by pirates while transporting coal through the Gulf of Aden.  If piracy attacks result in regions in which our vessels are deployed being characterized as "war risk" zones by insurers or Joint War Committee "war and strikes" listed areas, premiums payable for such coverage could increase significantly and such insurance coverage may be more difficult to obtain. In addition, crew and security equipment costs, including costs which may be incurred to employ onboard security armed guards, to comply with Best Management Practices for Protection against Somalia Based Piracy, or BMP4, or any updated version, could increase in such circumstances. We may not be adequately insured to cover losses from these incidents, which could have a material adverse effect on us. In addition, detention or hijacking as a result of an act of piracy against our vessels, increased costs associated with seeking to avoid such events (including increased bunker costs resulting from vessels being rerouted or travelling at increased speeds as recommended by BMP4), or unavailability of insurance for our vessels, could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, and ability to pay dividends, and may result in loss of revenues, increased costs and decreased cash flows to our customers, which could impair their ability to make payments to us under our charters.

Political instability, terrorist attacks and international hostilities can affect the seaborne transportation industry, which could adversely affect our business.

We conduct most of our operations outside of the United States, and our business, results of operations, cash flows, financial condition and ability to pay dividends, if any, in the future may be adversely affected by changing economic, political and government conditions in the countries and regions where our vessels are employed or registered. Moreover, we operate in a sector of the economy that is likely to be adversely impacted by the effects of political conflicts, including the current political instability in the Middle East, North Africa and other geographic countries and areas, terrorist or other attacks, war or international hostilities. Terrorist attacks such as those in New York on September 11, 2001, in London on July 7, 2005, in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 and in Paris on November 13, 2015, and the continuing response of the United States and others to these attacks, as well as the threat of future terrorist attacks around the world, continues to cause uncertainty in the world's financial markets and may affect our business, operating results and financial condition. Continuing conflicts and recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa, and the presence of U.S. or other armed forces in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and various other regions, may lead to additional acts of terrorism and armed conflict around the world, which may contribute to further economic instability in the global financial markets. These uncertainties could also adversely affect our ability to obtain additional financing on terms acceptable to us or at all. In the past, political conflicts have also resulted in attacks on vessels, such as the attack on the MT Limburg , a vessel unaffiliated with us,   in October 2002, mining of waterways and other efforts to disrupt international shipping, particularly in the Arabian Gulf region. Acts of terrorism and piracy have also affected vessels trading in regions such as the South China Sea and the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia.  Any of these occurrences could have a material adverse impact on our operating results, revenues and costs.

Our revenues are subject to seasonal fluctuations, which could affect our operating results and our ability to pay dividends, if any, in the future.

We operate our drybulk vessels in markets that have historically exhibited seasonal variations in demand and, as a result, in charterhire rates. This seasonality may result in quarter-to-quarter volatility in our operating results, which could affect our ability to pay dividends, if any, in the future from quarter to quarter. The drybulk carrier market is typically stronger in the fall and winter months in anticipation of increased consumption of coal and other raw materials in the northern hemisphere during the winter months. In addition, unpredictable weather patterns in these months tend to disrupt vessel scheduling and supplies of certain commodities. As a result, our revenues have historically been weaker during the fiscal quarters ended June 30 and September 30, and, conversely, our revenues have historically been stronger in fiscal quarters ended December 31 and March 31. This seasonality may adversely affect our operating results and our ability to pay dividends, if any, in the future.

Rising fuel prices may adversely affect our profits.

While we do not directly bear the cost of fuel or bunkers under our time charters, fuel is a significant factor in negotiating charter rates.  Fuel is also a significant, if not the largest, expense in our shipping operations when vessels are under voyage charter. As a result, an increase in the price of fuel beyond our expectations may adversely affect our profitability at the time of charter negotiation. The price and supply of fuel is unpredictable and fluctuates based on events outside our control, including geopolitical developments, supply and demand for oil and gas, actions by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, and other oil and gas producers, war and unrest in oil producing countries and regions, regional production patterns and environmental concerns. Further, fuel may become much more expensive in the future, which may reduce the profitability and competitiveness of our business versus other forms of transportation, such as truck or rail.

We are subject to international safety regulations and the failure to comply with these regulations may subject us to increased liability, may adversely affect our insurance coverage and may result in our vessels being denied access to, or detained in, certain ports.

Our business and the operation of our drybulk and offshore support vessels are materially affected by government regulation in the form of international conventions, national, state and local laws and regulations in force in the jurisdictions in which the vessels operate, as well as in the country or countries of their registration. Because such conventions, laws, and regulations are often revised, we cannot predict the ultimate cost of complying with such conventions, laws and regulations or the impact thereof on the resale prices or useful lives of our vessels. Additional conventions, laws and regulations may be adopted which could limit our ability to do business or increase the cost of our doing business and which may materially adversely affect our operations. We are required by various governmental and quasi governmental agencies to obtain certain permits, licenses, certificates, and financial assurances with respect to our operations.

In addition, vessel classification societies also impose significant safety and other requirements on our vessels. In complying with current and future environmental requirements, vessel-owners and operators may also incur significant additional costs in meeting new maintenance and inspection requirements, in developing contingency arrangements for potential spills and in obtaining insurance coverage. Government regulation of vessels, particularly in the areas of safety and environmental requirements, can be expected to become stricter in the future and require us to incur significant capital expenditures on our vessels to keep them in compliance.

The operation of our vessels is affected by the requirements set forth in the United Nations' International Maritime Organization's International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and Pollution Prevention, or the ISM Code. The ISM Code requires ship owners, ship managers and bareboat charterers to develop and maintain an extensive "Safety Management System" that includes the adoption of a safety and environmental protection policy setting forth instructions and procedures for safe operation and describing procedures for dealing with emergencies. Currently, all of our vessels are ISM Code-certified and we expect that any vessels that we acquire in the future will be ISM Code-certified when delivered to us. The failure of a shipowner or bareboat charterer to comply with the ISM Code may subject it to increased liability, may invalidate existing insurance or decrease available insurance coverage for the affected vessels and may result in a denial of access to, or detention in, certain ports. If we are subject to increased liability for non-compliance or if our insurance coverage is adversely impacted as a result of non-compliance, it may negatively affect our ability to pay dividends, if any, in the future. If any of our vessels are denied access to, or are detained in, certain ports, this may decrease our revenues.

Increased inspection procedures and tighter import and export controls could increase costs and disrupt our business.

International shipping is subject to various security and customs inspections and related procedures in countries of origin, destination and trans-shipment points. Inspection procedures may result in the seizure of the contents of our vessels, delays in the loading, offloading or delivery of our vessels and the levying of customs duties, fines or other penalties against us.

It is possible that changes to inspection procedures could impose additional financial and legal obligations on us. Changes to inspection procedures could also impose additional costs and obligations on our customers and may, in certain cases, render the shipment of certain types of cargo uneconomical or impractical. Any such changes or developments may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Maritime claimants could arrest one or more of our vessels, which could interrupt our cash flow.

Crew members, suppliers of goods and services to a vessel, shippers of cargo and other parties may be entitled to a maritime lien against a vessel for unsatisfied debts, claims or damages. In many jurisdictions, a claimant may seek to obtain security for its claim by arresting a vessel through foreclosure proceedings. The arrest or attachment of one or more of our vessels could interrupt our cash flow and require us to pay large sums of money to have the arrest or attachment lifted. In addition, in some jurisdictions, such as South Africa, under the "sister ship" theory of liability, a claimant may arrest both the vessel which is subject to the claimant's maritime lien and any "associated" vessel, which is any vessel owned or controlled by the same owner. Claimants could attempt to assert "sister ship" liability against a vessel in our fleet for claims relating to another of our vessels.

Governments could requisition our vessels during a period of war or emergency, resulting in a loss of earnings.

A government could requisition one or more of our vessels for title or for hire. Requisition for title occurs when a government takes control of a vessel and becomes her owner, while requisition for hire occurs when a government takes control of a vessel and effectively becomes her charterer at dictated charter rates. Generally, requisitions occur during periods of war or emergency, although governments may elect to requisition vessels in other circumstances. Although we would be entitled to compensation in the event of a requisition of one or more of our vessels, the amount and timing of payment would be uncertain. Government requisition of one or more of our vessels may negatively impact our revenues and reduce the amount of dividends, if any, in the future.

In the highly competitive international shipping industry, we may not be able to compete for charters with new entrants or established companies with greater resources and, as a result, we may be unable to employ our vessels profitably.

We employ our vessels in a highly competitive market that is capital intensive and highly fragmented. Competition arises primarily from other vessel owners, some of whom have substantially greater resources than we do. Competition for the transportation of drybulk cargo by sea is intense and depends on price, location, size, age, condition and the acceptability of the vessel and its operators to the charterers. Due in part to the highly fragmented market, competitors with greater resources could enter the drybulk shipping industry and operate larger fleets through consolidations or acquisitions and may be able to offer lower charter rates and higher quality vessels than we are able to offer. If we are unable to successfully compete with other drybulk shipping companies, this would have an adverse impact on our results of operations.

Risks associated with operating ocean-going vessels could affect our business and reputation, which could adversely affect our revenues and stock price.

The operation of ocean-going vessels carries inherent risks. These risks include the possibility of:

●

marine disaster;

●

environmental accidents;

●

cargo and property losses or damage;

●

business interruptions caused by mechanical failure, human error, war, terrorism, political action in various countries, labor strikes or adverse weather conditions; and

●

piracy.

The involvement of our vessels in an environmental disaster may harm our reputation as a safe and reliable vessel owner and operator. Any of these circumstances or events could increase our costs or lower our revenues.

The shipping industry has inherent operational risks that may not be adequately covered by our insurance.

We procure insurance for our fleet against risks commonly insured against by vessel owners and operators. Our current insurance includes hull and machinery insurance, war risks insurance and protection and indemnity insurance (which includes environmental damage and pollution insurance). We may not be adequately insured against all risks or our insurers may not pay a particular claim. Even if our insurance coverage is adequate to cover our losses, we may not be able to timely obtain a replacement vessel in the event of a loss. Furthermore, in the future, we may not be able to obtain adequate insurance coverage at reasonable rates for our fleet. We may also be subject to calls, or premiums, in amounts based not only on our own claim records but also the claim records of all other members of the protection and indemnity associations through which we receive indemnity insurance coverage for tort liability. Our insurance policies also contain deductibles, limitations and exclusions which, although we believe are standard in the shipping industry, may nevertheless increase our costs.

The operation of drybulk carriers has certain unique operational risks.

The operation of certain ship types, such as drybulk carriers, has certain unique risks. With a drybulk carrier, the cargo itself and its interaction with the ship can be a risk factor. By their nature, drybulk cargoes are often heavy, dense, easily shifted, and react badly to water exposure. In addition, drybulk carriers are often subjected to battering treatment during unloading operations with grabs, jackhammers (to pry encrusted cargoes out of the hold), and small bulldozers. This treatment may cause damage to the vessel. Vessels damaged due to treatment during unloading procedures may be more susceptible to breach to the sea. Furthermore, any defects or flaws in the design of a drybulk carrier may contribute to vessel damage. Hull breaches in drybulk carriers may lead to the flooding of the vessels holds. If a drybulk carrier suffers flooding in its forward holds, the bulk cargo may become so dense and waterlogged that its pressure may buckle the vessel's bulkheads, leading to the loss of a vessel. If we are unable to adequately maintain our vessels we may be unable to prevent these events. Any of these circumstances or events could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and our ability to pay dividends, if any, in the future. In addition, the loss of any of our vessels could harm our reputation as a safe and reliable vessel owner and operator.

Company Specific Risk Factors

We are not in compliance with certain financial and other covenants contained in our credit facilities relating to our shipping segments, which could adversely affect our business.

Our credit facilities require us to satisfy certain financial covenants. In general, these financial covenants require us to maintain (i) minimum liquidity; (ii) a minimum market adjusted equity ratio; (iii) a minimum interest coverage ratio; (iv) a minimum market adjusted net worth; (v) a minimum debt service coverage ratio and (vi) a minimum working capital level.  In addition, our credit facilities, which are secured by mortgages on our vessels, require us to maintain specified financial ratios, mainly to ensure that the market value of the mortgaged vessels  under the applicable credit facility, determined in accordance with the terms of that facility, does not fall below a certain percentage of the outstanding amount of the loan, which we refer to as a value maintenance clause or a loan-to-value ratio.  Events beyond our control, including changes in the economic and business conditions in the international markets in which we operate, may affect our ability to comply with the financial covenants and loan-to-value ratios required by our credit facilities. Our ability to maintain compliance also depends substantially on the value of our assets, our charterhire , our ability to obtain charters , our success at keeping our costs low and our ability to successfully implement our overall business strategy.

A violation of any of the financial covenants in our credit facilities, absent a waiver of the breach from our lenders, or a violation of the loan-to-value ratios in our credit facilities, if not waived by our lenders or cured by providing additional collateral or prepaying the amount of outstanding indebtedness required to eliminate the shortfall, could result in an event of default under our credit facilities that would allow all amounts outstanding thereunder to be declared immediately due and payable. In addition, all of our credit facilities contain cross-acceleration or cross-default provisions that may be triggered by a default under one of our other credit facilities.  If the amounts outstanding under our indebtedness were to be accelerated or were to become the subject of foreclosure actions, we cannot assure you that our assets would be sufficient to repay in full the money owed to the lenders or to our other debt holders.

 

 

 

On December 11, 2015, we repaid $12.4 million, under a loan agreement dated March 31, 2006.

 

 We are currently in negotiations with our lenders to obtain debt maturity extensions or restructuring of our debt facilities. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain our lenders consent, with respect to the aforementioned noncompliance under our credit facilities, or any non-compliance with specified financial ratios or financial covenants under future financial obligations we may enter into, or that we will be able to refinance or restructure any such indebtedness.  If we fail to remedy, or obtain a waiver of, the breaches of the covenants discussed above, our lenders may accelerate our indebtedness under the relevant credit facilities, which could trigger the cross-acceleration or cross-default provisions contained in our other credit facilities, under which a total of $341.9 million, including $103.7 million classified as "Liabilities held for sale" in the consolidated balance sheet as at December 31, 2015 included in this annual report, due to the sale of the respective vessels, was outstanding as of December 31, 2015. If our indebtedness is accelerated, it will be very difficult in the current financing environment for us to refinance our debt or obtain additional financing and we could lose our vessels if our lenders foreclose their liens, which could impair our ability to conduct our business and continue as a going concern. Further, as discussed below, our independent registered public accounting firm has issued its opinion with an explanatory paragraph in connection with our audited financial statements included in this report that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. In addition, if the value of our vessels deteriorates significantly from their currently depressed levels, we may have to record further impairment adjustments to our financial statements, which would adversely affect our financial results and further hinder our ability to raise capital.

Moreover, in connection with any additional amendments to our credit facilities, that we obtain, or if we enter into any future credit agreements or debt instruments, our lenders may impose additional operating and financial restrictions on us. These restrictions may further restrict our ability to, among other things, fund our operations or capital needs, make acquisitions or pursue available business opportunities, which in turn may adversely affect our financial condition. In addition, our lenders may require the payment of additional fees, require prepayment of a portion of our indebtedness to them, accelerate the amortization schedule for our indebtedness and increase the margin and lending rates they charge us on our outstanding indebtedness.

As of March 31, 2016, some of our lenders had declared an event of default under the relevant loan agreements. In addition, our breaches under certain loan agreements constitute potential events of default that may result in acceleration of such indebtedness and potential cross-acceleration or cross-default events under our other credit facilities.

We expect that our lenders could demand payment of the loans under which we are in breach of certain financial and loan-to-value ratio covenants before their maturity, especially those loans where we are not paying scheduled loan installments as they fall due. We plan to pay loan interest with cash expected to be generated from operations. We do not expect that cash on hand and cash expected to be generated from operations will be sufficient to repay our loans relating to our drybulk and offshore support fleet with cross-default provisions which amounted to approximately $341.9 million, including $103.7 million classified as "Liabilities held for sale" in the consolidated balance sheet as at December 31, 2015 included in this annual report due to the sale of the respective vessels, in the aggregate as of December 31, 2015, if such debt is accelerated by our lenders, as discussed above. In such a scenario, we would have to seek to access the capital markets to fund the mandatory payments.

 

Investor confidence may be adversely impacted if we are unable to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

 

We have implemented procedures in order to meet the evaluation requirements of Rules 13a-15(c) and 15d-15(c) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act, for the assessment under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Section 404. Section 404 requires us to include in our annual reports on Form 20-F (i) our management's report on, and assessment of, the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting and (ii) our independent registered public accounting firm's attestation to and report on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting in our annual report. If we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls over financial reporting, we will not be in compliance with all of the requirements imposed by Section 404. Any failure to comply with Section 404 could result in an adverse reaction in the financial marketplace due to a loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which ultimately could harm our business.

 

Our inability to comply with certain financial and other covenants under our loan agreements relating to our shipping segments and our working capital deficit raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

As of December 31, 2015, we were in breach of certain financial covenants and our lenders may choose to accelerate our indebtedness. As a result, we reported a working capital deficit of $85.6 million at December 31, 2015. Therefore, our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on management's ability to successfully generate revenue and enter into firm financing agreements to meet our scheduled obligations as they become due and the continued support of our lenders. These conditions raise significant doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern and, therefore, we may be unable to realize our assets and discharge our liabilities in the normal course of business. Our independent registered public accounting firm has issued its opinion with an explanatory paragraph in connection with our financial statements included in this annual report that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our financial statements do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities or any other adjustments that might result in the event the Company is unable to continue as a going concern.

Our credit facilities impose operating and financial restrictions on us, and if we receive additional waivers of covenant breaches and/or further amend our loan agreements in the future, our lenders may impose additional operating and financial restrictions on us and/or modify the terms of our existing credit facilities.

In addition to the loan-to-value ratio requirements and financial covenants relating to our financial position, operating performance and liquidity contained in our credit facilities, our credit facilities also contain restrictions on our ability to, among other things:

Therefore, we will need to seek permission from our lenders in order to engage in certain corporate and commercial actions that we believe would be in the best interest of our business, and a denial of permission may make it difficult for us to successfully execute our business strategy or effectively compete with companies that are not similarly restricted. Our lenders' interests may be different from our interests, and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain our lenders' permission when needed. In addition to the above restrictions, our lenders may require the payment of additional fees, require prepayment of a portion of our indebtedness to them, accelerate the amortization schedule for our indebtedness and increase the interest rates they charge us on our outstanding indebtedness. These potential restrictions and requirements may limit our ability to pay dividends, if any, in the future to you, finance our future operations, make acquisitions or pursue business opportunities.

Our ability to comply with the covenants and restrictions contained in our credit facilities may be affected by economic, financial and industry conditions and other factors beyond our control. Any default under the agreements governing our indebtedness, including a default under our credit facilities, that is not waived by the required lenders, and the remedies sought by the holders of such indebtedness, could prevent us from paying dividends in the future. If we are unable to repay indebtedness, the lenders under our credit facilities could proceed against the collateral securing that indebtedness. In any such case, we may be unable to repay the amounts due under our credit facilities. This could have serious consequences to our financial condition and results of operations and could cause us to become bankrupt or insolvent. Our ability to comply with these covenants in future periods will also depend substantially on the value of our assets, our charter rates, our ability to obtain charters, our success at keeping our costs low and our ability to successfully implement our overall business strategy. Any future credit agreement or amendment or debt instrument may contain similar or more restrictive covenants.

We have substantial indebtedness, which could adversely affect our financial health.

As of December 31, 2015, on a consolidated basis, we had $341.9 million in aggregate principal amount of indebtedness outstanding, including $103.7 million classified as "Liabilities held for sale" due to the sale of the respective vessels and $30.0 million in additional credit available to us under our credit facilities.

This substantial level of debt and other obligations could have significant adverse consequences on our business and future prospects, including the following:

●

we may not be able to satisfy our financial obligations under our indebtedness and our contractual and commercial commitments, which may result in possible defaults on and acceleration of such indebtedness;

●

we may not be able to obtain financing in the future for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements or other purposes;

●

we may not be able to use operating cash flow in other areas of our business because we must dedicate a substantial portion of these funds to service the debt;

●

we could become more vulnerable to general adverse economic and industry conditions, including increases in interest rates, particularly given our substantial indebtedness, some of which bears interest at variable rates;

●

our ability to refinance indebtedness may be limited or the associated costs may increase;

●

less leveraged competitors could have a competitive advantage because they have lower debt service requirements and, as a result, we may not be better positioned to withstand economic downturns; and

●

we may be less able to take advantage of significant business opportunities and to react to changes in market or industry conditions than our competitors and our management's discretion in operating our business may be limited.

Each of these factors may have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition and viability. Our ability to service our debt will depend upon, among other things, our future financial and operating performance, which will be affected by prevailing economic conditions and financial, business, regulatory and other factors, some of which are beyond our control. If our operating income is not sufficient to service our current or future indebtedness, we will be forced to take actions such as reducing or delaying our business activities, acquisitions, investments or capital expenditures, selling assets, restructuring or refinancing our debt or seeking additional equity capital. Any or all of these actions may be insufficient to allow us to service our debt obligations. Further, we may not be able to effect any of these remedies on satisfactory terms, or at all. In addition, a lack of liquidity in the debt and equity markets could hinder our ability to refinance our debt or obtain additional financing on favorable terms in the future.

We may not be able to generate sufficient cash flow to meet our debt service and other obligations due to events beyond our control.

Three of our bank facilities have matured and we have not made the final balloon installment. For the remaining bank facilities, we have elected to suspend principal repayments to preserve cash liquidity.

Our ability to make scheduled payments on our outstanding indebtedness will depend on our ability to generate cash from operations in the future. Our future financial and operating performance will be affected by a range of economic, financial, competitive, regulatory, business and other factors that we cannot control, such as general economic and financial conditions in the drybulk and offshore support shipping industries or the economy generally. In particular, our ability to generate steady cash flow will depend on our ability to secure time charters at acceptable rates. Our ability to renew our existing time charters or obtain new time charters at acceptable charterhire or at all will depend on the prevailing economic and competitive conditions.

Furthermore, our financial and operating performance, and our ability to service our indebtedness, is also dependent on our subsidiaries' ability to make distributions to us, whether in the form of dividends, loans or otherwise. The timing and amount of such distributions will depend on our earnings, financial condition, cash requirements and availability, fleet renewal and expansion, restrictions in our various debt agreements, the provisions of Marshall Islands law affecting the payment of dividends and other factors.

If our operating cash flows are insufficient to service our debt and to fund our other liquidity needs, we may be forced to take actions such as reducing or delaying capital expenditures, selling assets, restructuring or refinancing our indebtedness, seeking additional capital, or any combination of the foregoing. We cannot assure you that any of these actions could be effected on satisfactory terms, if at all, or that they would yield sufficient funds to make required payments on our outstanding indebtedness and to fund our other liquidity needs. Also, the terms of existing or future debt agreements may restrict us from pursuing any of these actions. Furthermore, reducing or delaying capital expenditures or selling assets could impair future cash flows and our ability to service our debt in the future.

If for any reason we are unable to meet our debt service and repayment obligations, we would be in default under the terms of the agreements governing such indebtedness, which would allow creditors at that time to declare all such indebtedness then outstanding to be due and payable. This would likely in turn trigger cross-acceleration or cross-default rights among certain of our other debt agreements. Under these circumstances, lenders could compel us to apply all of our available cash to repay borrowings or they could prevent us from making payments on the notes. If the amounts outstanding under our existing and future debt agreements were to be accelerated, or were the subject of foreclosure actions, we cannot assure you that our assets would be sufficient to repay in full the money owed to the lenders or to our other debt holders.

The failure of our counterparties to meet their obligations under our time charter agreements could cause us to suffer losses or otherwise adversely affect our business.

As of December 31, 2015, seven of our vessels were employed under time charters and four of these vessels were employed by one charterer. The ability and willingness of each of our counterparties to perform its obligations under a time charter agreement with us will depend on a number of factors that are beyond our control and may include, among other things, general economic conditions, the condition of the drybulk shipping industry and the overall financial condition of the counterparties. In addition, in challenging market conditions, there have been reports of charterers, including some of our charterers, renegotiating their charters or defaulting on their obligations under charters and our customers may fail to pay charter-hire or attempt to renegotiate charter rates.

Our ability to renew the charters on our vessels upon the expiration or termination of our current charters, four of which are scheduled to expire in 2016, or on vessels that we may acquire in the future, the charter rates payable under any replacement charters and vessel values will depend upon, among other things, economic conditions in the sectors in which our vessels operate at that time, changes in the supply and demand for vessel capacity and changes in the supply and demand for the seaborne transportation of energy resources.

A drop in spot charter rates may provide an incentive for some charterers to default on their charters

When we enter into a time charter, charter rates under that charter are fixed for the term of the charter. If the spot charter rates or short-term time charter rates in the drybulk shipping industry remain significantly lower than the time charter equivalent rates that some of our charterers are obligated to pay us under our existing charters, the charterers may have incentive to default under that charter or attempt to renegotiate the charter. If our charterers fail to pay their obligations, we would have to attempt to re-charter our vessels at lower charter rates, which would affect our ability to operate our vessels profitably and may affect our ability to comply with covenants contained in any loan agreements we may enter into in the future.

Some of our offshore support contracts may be terminated early due to certain events.

Our customers under our offshore support contracts have the right to terminate our offshore support contracts. Generally, our contracts permit our customers to terminate the contracts early without the payment of any termination fees under certain circumstances, including as a result of major non-performance, longer periods of downtime or impaired performance caused by equipment or operational issues, or sustained periods of downtime due to piracy or force majeure events beyond our control.

In addition, during periods of challenging market conditions, our customers may no longer need a offshore support vessel that is currently under contract or may be able to obtain a comparable vessel at a lower dayrate. As a result, we may be subject to an increased risk of our clients seeking to renegotiate the terms of their existing contracts or repudiate their contracts, including through claims of non-performance. Our customers' ability to perform their obligations under their offshore support contracts with us may also be negatively impacted by the prevailing uncertainty surrounding the development of the world economy and the credit markets. If our customers cancel some of our contracts, and we are unable to secure new contracts on a timely basis and on substantially similar terms, or if contracts are suspended for an extended period of time or if a number of our contracts are renegotiated, it could adversely affect our consolidated statement of financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Our future contracted revenue for our fleet of offshore support vessels may not be ultimately realized.

As of April 11, 2016, the future contracted revenue for our fleet of operating offshore support vessels, was approximately $28.0 million under firm commitments. We may not be able to perform under our time-charter contracts due to events beyond our control, and our customers may seek to cancel or renegotiate our contracts for various reasons, including adverse conditions, resulting in lower daily rates. Our inability, or the inability of our customers, to perform under the respective contractual obligations may have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Our operating results will be subject to seasonal fluctuations, which could affect our operating results.

Doing business in certain countries creates certain risks.

We operate three of our OSVs in Brazil and have certain agreements with local companies as a result of local laws requiring local company to perform certain operations. While the local company knowledge and experience, entering into these types of agreements often requires us to surrender a measure of control, and occasions may arise when we do not agree with the business goals and objectives of the local company, or other factors may arise that make the continuation of the relationship unwise or untenable. Any such disagreements or discontinuation of the relationship could disrupt our operations,  or affect the continuity of our business. If we are unable to resolve issues with the local company, we may decide to terminate these agreements and either locate a different local company and continue to work in the area or seek opportunities for our assets in another market. The unwinding of a local company could prove to be difficult or time-consuming, and the loss of revenue related to the termination of the agreements with the local company and costs related to the sourcing of a new local company or the mobilization of assets to another market could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

The geographic concentration of our operations offshore Brazil subjects us to an increased risk from factors specifically affecting that area.

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severe weather or natural disasters;

 

·

moratoria on drilling or permitting delays;

 

·

delays in or the inability to obtain regulatory approvals;

 

·

delays or decreases in oil production;

 

·

delays or decreases in the availability of drilling rigs and related equipment, facilities, personnel or services;

 

 

 

·

delays or decreases in the availability of capacity to transport, gather or process production; and/or

 

·

changes in the regulatory, political and fiscal environment.

 

Due to the concentrated nature of our OSVs offshore Brazil, a number of our vessels could experience any of the same conditions at the same time, resulting in a relatively greater impact on our results of operations than they might have on other companies that operate OSVs in a more diverse geographic area.

 

 

We are dependent on spot charters and any decrease in spot charter rates in the future may adversely affect our earnings.

We currently operate a fleet of 20 drybulk vessels, of which 16 vessels are employed in the spot market and four are receiving index linked rate, exposing us to fluctuations in spot market charter rates. In addition, we currently employ three out of our offshore support vessels under time charters. Further, we may employ in the spot market any additional vessels that we may acquire in the future or existing vessels upon the expiration of related time charters.

Although the number of vessels in our fleet that participate in the spot market will vary from time to time, we anticipate that a significant portion of our fleet will participate in this market. As a result, our financial performance will be significantly affected by conditions in the drybulk and offshore support spot market and only our vessels that operate under fixed-rate time charters may, during the period such vessels operate under such time charters, provide a fixed source of revenue to us.

Historically, the drybulk markets have been volatile as a result of the many conditions and factors that can affect the price, supply of and demand for drybulk capacity. The recent global economic crisis may further reduce demand for transportation of drybulk cargoes over longer distances and supply of drybulk vessels to carry such drybulk cargoes, which may materially affect our revenues, profitability and cash flows. The spot charter market may fluctuate significantly based upon supply of and demand of vessels and cargoes. The successful operation of our vessels in the competitive spot charter market depends upon, among other things, obtaining profitable spot charters and minimizing, to the extent possible, time spent waiting for charters and time spent traveling unladen to pick up cargo. The spot market is very volatile, and, in the past, there have been periods when spot rates have declined below the operating cost of vessels. If future spot charter rates decline, then we may be unable to operate our vessels trading in the spot market profitably, meet our obligations, including payments on indebtedness, or to pay dividends in the future. Furthermore, as charter rates for spot charters are fixed for a single voyage, which may last up to several weeks, during periods in which spot charter rates are rising, we will generally experience delays in realizing the benefits from such increases.

Declines in charter rates and other market deterioration could cause us to incur impairment charges.

We review for impairment long-lived assets and intangible long-lived assets held and used whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be recoverable. When the estimate of undiscounted cash flows, excluding interest charges, expected to be generated by the use of the asset is less than its carrying amount, we evaluate the asset for impairment loss. The impairment loss is determined by the difference between the carrying amount of the asset and the fair value of the asset. In developing estimates of future undiscounted cash flows, we make assumptions and estimates about the vessels' future performance, with the significant assumptions being related to charter rates, fleet utilization, operating expenses, capital expenditures, residual value and the estimated remaining useful life of each vessel. The assumptions used to develop estimates of future undiscounted cash flows are based on historical trends as well as future expectations. The projected net operating cash flows are determined by considering the charter revenues from existing time charters for the fixed fleet days and an estimated daily time charter equivalent for the unfixed days. In making estimates concerning the daily time charter equivalent for the unfixed days, the Company utilizes the most recent ten year historical average for similar vessels and other available market data over the remaining estimated life of the vessel, assumed to be 25 years for drybulk vessels and 30 years for offshore supply vessels from the delivery of the vessel from the shipyard.

During 2015 and as a result of the impairment review performed, prior to the entering into agreements for the sale of our vessels and vessel owning companies it was determined that the carrying amount of one of our assets was not recoverable and, therefore, an impairment loss of $83.9 million was recognized. In addition, due to our decision to sell certain vessels and vessel owning companies and based on the agreed-upon sales price, as well as due to the reduction of the vessels' held for sale carrying amount to their fair value less cost to sell, an impairment charge of $967.1 million was recognized, for the year ended December 31, 2015. As a result of the impairment review as of December 31, 2014, we determined that the carrying amounts of our assets held for use were recoverable, except for one drybulk vessel for which an impairment charge of $38.1 million was recognized, and, concluded that no further impairment loss was necessary for 2014. However, due to our decision to sell certain vessels during the years and or subsequent to the balance sheet dates and based on the agreed-upon sales price, an impairment charge of $43.5 million and $0 million, for each of the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2014, respectively, was recognized.

Although we believe that the assumptions used to evaluate potential impairment are reasonable and appropriate, such assumptions are highly subjective.

Any impairment charges incurred as a result of declines in charter rates and other market deterioration could negatively affect our business, financial condition or operating results or the trading price of our common shares.

Construction of vessels is subject to risks, including delays and cost overruns, which could have an adverse impact on our available cash resources and results of operations.

From time to time in the future, we may also undertake new construction projects and conversion projects. In addition, we may make significant upgrade, refurbishment, conversion and repair expenditures for our fleet from time to time, particularly as our vessels become older. Some of these expenditures are unplanned. These projects together with other efforts of this type are subject to risks of cost overruns or delays inherent in any large construction project as a result of numerous factors, including the following:

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shipyard unavailability;

 

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shortages of equipment, materials or skilled labor for completion of repairs or upgrades to our equipment;

 

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unscheduled delays in the delivery of ordered materials and equipment or shipyard construction;

 

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financial or operating difficulties experienced by equipment vendors or the shipyard;

 

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unanticipated actual or purported change orders;

 

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local customs strikes or related work slowdowns that could delay importation of equipment or materials;

 

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engineering problems, including those relating to the commissioning of newly designed equipment;

 

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design or engineering changes;

 

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latent damages or deterioration to the hull, equipment and machinery in excess of engineering estimates and assumptions;

 

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work stoppages;

 

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client acceptance delays;

 

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weather interference, storm damage or other events of force majeure;

 

 

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disputes with shipyards and suppliers;

 

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shipyard failures and difficulties;

 

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failure or delay of third-party equipment vendors or service providers;

 

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unanticipated cost increases; and

 

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difficulty in obtaining necessary permits or approvals or in meeting permit or approval conditions.

 

These factors may contribute to cost variations and delays in the delivery of  newbuilding vessels. Delays in the delivery of these newbuilding vessels or the inability to complete construction in accordance with their design specifications may, in some circumstances, result in a delay in contract commencement, resulting in a loss of revenue to us, and may also cause customers to renegotiate, terminate or shorten the term of a charter agreement, pursuant to applicable late delivery clauses. In the event of termination of one of these contracts, we may not be able to secure a replacement contract on as favorable terms. Additionally, capital expenditures for vessel upgrades, refurbishment and construction projects could materially exceed our planned capital expenditures. Moreover, our vessels that may undergo upgrade, refurbishment and repair may not earn charterhire, during the periods they are out of service. In addition, in the event of a shipyard failure or other difficulty, we may be unable to enforce certain provisions under our newbuilding contracts such as our refund guarantee, to recover amounts paid as installments under such contracts. The occurrence of any of these events may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

Purchasing and operating secondhand vessels may result in increased operating costs and reduced fleet utilization.

While we have the right to inspect previously owned vessels prior to our purchase of them and we intend to inspect all secondhand vessels that we acquire in the future, such an inspection does not provide us with the same knowledge about their condition that we would have if these vessels had been built for and operated exclusively by us. A secondhand vessel may have conditions or defects that we were not aware of when we bought the vessel and which may require us to incur costly repairs to the vessel. These repairs may require us to put a vessel into drydock which would reduce our fleet utilization. Furthermore, we usually do not receive the benefit of warranties on secondhand vessels.

If any of our vessels fail to maintain their class certification and/or fail any annual survey, intermediate survey, drydocking or special survey, that vessel would be unable to carry cargo or operate, thereby reducing our revenues and profitability and violating certain covenants under our credit facilities.

The hull and machinery of every commercial drybulk and offshore support vessel must be classed by a classification society authorized by its country of registry. The classification society certifies that a vessel is safe and seaworthy in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations of the country of registry of the vessel and SOLAS. All of our drybulk vessels are certified as being "in class" by all the major Classification Societies (e.g., American Bureau of Shipping, Lloyd's Register of Shipping). Each of our operating offshore support vessels is certified as being "in class" by American Bureau of Shipping. Our six operating offshore support vessels are due for their first Special Periodical Surveys in 2017.

A vessel must undergo annual surveys, intermediate surveys, drydockings and special surveys. In lieu of a special survey, a vessel's machinery may be on a continuous survey cycle, under which the machinery would be surveyed periodically over a five-year period. Every vessel is also required to be drydocked every two to three years for inspection of the underwater parts of such vessel.

If any vessel does not maintain its class and/or fails any annual survey, intermediate survey, drydocking or special survey, the vessel will be unable to carry cargo between ports, or operate, and will be unemployable and uninsurable which could cause us to be in violation of certain covenants in our credit facilities. Any such inability to carry cargo or be employed, or operate, or any such violation of covenants, could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

The aging of our drybulk carrier fleet may result in increased operating costs or loss of hire in the future, which could adversely affect our earnings.

In general, the cost of maintaining a vessel in good operating condition increases with the age of the vessel. As of March 31, 2016, the 20 vessels in our drybulk carrier fleet had an average age of 13.0 years. As our fleet ages we will incur increased costs. Older vessels are typically less fuel efficient and more costly to maintain than more recently constructed vessels due to improvements in engine technology. Cargo insurance rates increase with the age of a vessel, making older vessels less desirable to charterers. Governmental regulations and safety or other equipment standards related to the age of vessels may also require expenditures for alterations or the addition of new equipment to our vessels and may restrict the type of activities in which our vessels may engage. As our vessels age, market conditions may not justify those expenditures or enable us to operate our vessels profitably during the remainder of their useful lives.

In addition, charterers actively discriminate against hiring older vessels. For example, Rightship, the ship vetting service founded by Rio Tinto and BHP-Billiton which has become the major vetting service in the drybulk shipping industry, ranks the suitability of vessels based on a scale of one to five stars. Most major carriers will not charter a vessel that Rightship has vetted with fewer than three stars. Rightship automatically downgrades any vessel over 18 years of age to two stars, which significantly decreases its chances of entering into a charter. Therefore, as our vessels approach 18 years of age, we may not be able to operate these vessels profitably during the remainder of their useful lives.

Our vessels may suffer damage and we may face unexpected drydocking costs, which could adversely affect our cash flow and financial condition.

If our drybulk or offshore support vessels suffer damage, they may need to be repaired at a drydocking facility. The costs of drydock repairs are unpredictable and can be substantial. The loss of earnings while our vessels are being repaired and repositioned, as well as the actual cost of these repairs, would decrease our earnings and reduce the amount of dividends, if any, in the future. We may not have insurance that is sufficient to cover all or any of these costs or losses and may have to pay drydocking costs not covered by our insurance.

We may not be able to maintain or replace our offshore support vessels as they age.

The capital associated with the repair and maintenance of our fleet increases with age. We may not be able to maintain our existing offshore support vessels units to compete effectively in the market, and our financial resources may not be sufficient to enable us to make expenditures necessary for these purposes or to acquire or build replacement offshore support vessels.

Our board of directors has determined to suspend the payment of cash dividends as a result of market conditions in the international shipping industry, and until such market conditions improve, it is unlikely that we will reinstate the payment of dividends.

In light of a lower freight rate environment and a highly challenged financing environment, our board of directors, beginning with the fourth quarter of 2008, has suspended our common share dividend. Our dividend policy will be assessed by the board of directors from time to time. The suspension allows us to preserve capital and use the preserved capital to capitalize on market opportunities as they may arise. Until market conditions improve, it is unlikely that we will reinstate the payment of dividends. In addition, other external factors, such as our lenders imposing restrictions on our ability to pay dividends under the terms of our loan agreements, may limit our ability to pay dividends. Further, we may not be permitted to pay dividends if we are in breach of the covenants contained in our loan agreements and any waivers related thereto.  We do not intend to obtain funds from other sources to pay dividends, if any, in the future. In addition, the declaration and payment of dividends, if any, in the future will depend on the provisions of Marshall Islands law affecting the payment of dividends. Marshall Islands law generally prohibits the payment of dividends if the company is insolvent or would be rendered insolvent upon payment of such dividend and dividends may be declared and paid out of our operating surplus; but in this case, there is no such surplus. Dividends may be declared or paid out of net profits for the fiscal year in which the dividend is declared and for the preceding fiscal year.

We are a holding company, and we depend on the ability of our subsidiaries to distribute funds to us in order to satisfy our financial obligations or pay dividends, if any, in the future.

We are a holding company and our subsidiaries conduct all of our operations and own all of our operating assets. We have no significant assets other than the equity interests in our subsidiaries. As a result, our ability to make dividend payments, if any, in the future depends on our subsidiaries and their ability to distribute funds to us. Furthermore, certain of our subsidiaries are obligated to use their surplus cash to prepay the balance on their long-term loans. If we are unable to obtain funds from our subsidiaries, our board of directors may not exercise its discretion to pay dividends in the future.

Investment in derivative instruments such as freight forward agreements could result in losses.

From time to time, we may take positions in derivative instruments including freight forward agreements, or FFAs. FFAs and other derivative instruments may be used to hedge a vessel owner's exposure to the charter market by providing for the sale of a contracted charter rate along a specified route and period of time. Upon settlement, if the contracted charter rate is less than the average of the rates, as reported by an identified index, for the specified route and period, the seller of the FFA is required to pay the buyer an amount equal to the difference between the contracted rate and the settlement rate, multiplied by the number of days in the specified period. Conversely, if the contracted rate is greater than the settlement rate, the buyer is required to pay the seller the settlement sum. If we take positions in FFAs or other derivative instruments and do not correctly anticipate charter rate movements over the specified route and time period, we could suffer losses in the settling or termination of the FFA. This could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows.

The derivative contracts we have entered into to hedge our exposure to fluctuations in interest rates could result in higher than market interest rates and charges against our income.

As of December 31, 2015, we had entered into nine interest rate swaps for purposes of managing our exposure to fluctuations in interest rates applicable to indebtedness under our credit facilities, which were advanced at a floating rate based on LIBOR. Our hedging strategies, however, may not be effective and we may incur substantial losses if interest rates move materially differently from our expectations. Our existing interest rate swaps as of December 31, 2015 did not, and our future derivative contracts may not, qualify for treatment as hedges for accounting purposes. We recognized fluctuations in the fair value of these contracts in our statement of operations. At December 31, 2015, the fair value of our interest rate swaps was a net liability of $2.2   million.

Our financial condition could be materially adversely affected to the extent we do not hedge our exposure to interest rate fluctuations under our financing arrangements, under which loans have been advanced at a floating rate based on LIBOR and for which we have not entered into an interest rate swap or other hedging arrangement. Any hedging activities we engage in may not effectively manage our interest rate exposure or have the desired impact on our financial conditions or results of operations. See "Item 11. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk."

Because we generate most of our revenues in U.S. Dollars, but incur a significant portion of our employee salary and administrative and other expenses in other currencies, exchange rate fluctuations could have an adverse impact on our results of operations.

Our principal currency for our operations and financing is the U.S. Dollar. A substantial portion of the operating dayrates for our vessels, are quoted and received in U.S. Dollars; however, a portion of our revenue under our contracts with Petroleo Brasileiro S.A., or Petrobras Brazil, for our offshore support vessels is   receivable in Brazilian Real. The principal currency for operating expenses is also the U.S. Dollar; however, a significant portion of employee salaries and administration expenses, as well as parts of the consumables and repair and maintenance expenses for the drilling units until June 8, 2015, which we deconsolidated Ocean Rig UDW Inc. ("Ocean Rig"), were paid in Euros, Brazilian Real or other currencies depending in part on the location of our operations. For the year ended December 31, 2015, approximately 46% of our expenses were incurred in currencies other than the U.S. Dollars. This exposure to foreign currency could lead to fluctuations in net income and net revenue due to changes in the value of the U.S. Dollar relative to the other currencies. Revenues paid in foreign currencies against which the U.S. Dollar rises in value can decrease, resulting in lower U.S. Dollar denominated revenues. Expenses incurred in foreign currencies against which the U.S. Dollar falls in value can increase, resulting in higher U.S. Dollar denominated expenses. Our U.S. Dollar denominated results of operations could be materially and adversely affected upon exchange rate fluctuations determined by events outside of our control.

If volatility in LIBOR occurs, it could affect our profitability, earnings and cash flow.

LIBOR has historically been volatile, with the spread between LIBOR and the prime lending rate widening significantly at times. These conditions are the result of the disruptions in the international credit markets. Because the interest rates borne by our outstanding indebtedness fluctuate with changes in LIBOR, if this volatility were to occur, it would affect the amount of interest payable on our debt, which in turn, could have an adverse effect on our profitability, earnings and cash flow.

Furthermore, interest in most loan agreements in our industry has been based on published LIBOR rates. Recently, however, lenders have insisted on provisions that entitle the lenders, in their discretion, to replace published LIBOR as the base for the interest calculation with their cost-of-funds rate. If we are required to agree to such a provision in future loan agreements, our lending costs could increase significantly, which would have an adverse effect on our profitability, earnings and cash flow.

An increase in interest rates would increase the cost of servicing our indebtedness and could reduce our profitability.

Our debt under certain of our credit facilities bears interest at variable rates. We may also incur indebtedness in the future with variable interest rates. As a result, an increase in market interest rates would increase the cost of servicing our indebtedness and could materially reduce our profitability and cash flows. The impact of such an increase would be more significant for us than it would be for some other companies because of our substantial indebtedness.

We depend entirely on TMS Bulkers and TMS Offshore Services to manage and charter our drybulk and offshore support fleet, respectively.

We currently have 18 employees, including our President and Chief Executive Officer, our Executive Vice President, our Chief Financial Officer, our Vice President of Offshore and our Financial Controller. Since January 1, 2011, we have subcontracted the commercial and technical management of our drybulk vessels including crewing, maintenance and repair, to TMS Bulkers. TMS Bulkers is beneficially owned by our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. George Economou. On October 21, 2015 we acquired 97.44% of the issued and outstanding share capital of Nautilus and on November 24, 2015, acquired the remaining 2.56% which indirectly through its subsidiaries owns six OSVs with management agreements with TMS Offshore Services, pursuant to which TMS Offshore Services provides overall technical and crew management. The loss of the services or TMS Bulkers or TMS Offshore Services, or their failure to perform their obligations to us could materially and adversely affect the results of our operations. Although we may have rights against TMS Bulkers and TMS Offshore Services, if they default on their obligations to us, we will have no recourse against either of them. Further, we are required to seek approval from our lenders to change our manager.

Under our management agreements with TMS Bulkers and TMS Offshore Services, TMS Bulkers and TMS Offshore Services shall not be liable to us for any losses or damages arising in the course of their performance under the agreement unless such loss or damage is proved to have resulted from the negligence, gross negligence or willful default by TMS Bulkers or TMS Offshore Services, their employees or agents and in such case TMS Bulkers' or TMS Offshore Services's liability per incident or series of incidents is limited to a total of ten times the annual management fee payable under the relevant agreement. The management agreements further provide that TMS Bulkers and TMS Offshore Services shall not be liable for any of the actions of the crew, even if such actions are negligent, grossly negligent or willful, except to the extent that they are shown to have resulted from a failure by TMS Bulkers or TMS Offshore Services to perform their obligations with respect to management of the crew. Except to the extent of the liability cap described above, we have agreed to indemnify TMS Bulkers and TMS Offshore Services and their employees and agents against any losses incurred in the course of the performance of the agreement.

TMS Bulkers and TMS Offshore Services are privately held companies and there is little or no publicly available information about them.

The ability of TMS Bulkers and TMS Offshore Services to continue providing services for our benefit will depend in part on their own financial strength. Circumstances beyond our control could impair TMS Bulkers' and TMS Offshore Services's financial strength, and because they are privately held it is unlikely that information about their financial strength would become public unless TMS Bulkers or TMS Offshore Services began to default on their obligations. As a result, an investor in our shares might have little advance warning of problems affecting TMS Bulkers or TMS Offshore Services, even though these problems could have a material adverse effect on us.

We may be unable to attract and retain qualified, skilled employees or crew necessary to operate our business.

Our success will depend in large part on our ability and the ability of TMS Bulkers and TMS Offshore Services to attract and retain highly skilled and qualified personnel. In crewing our vessels, we require technically skilled employees with specialized training who can perform physically demanding work. Competition to attract and retain qualified crew members is intense. If we are not able to increase our rates to compensate for any crew cost increases, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. Any inability we, TMS Bulkers or TMS Offshore Services experience in the future to hire, train and retain a sufficient number of qualified employees could impair our ability to manage, maintain and grow our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We are dependent upon key management personnel, particularly our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Mr. George Economou.

Our continued operations depend to a significant extent upon the abilities and efforts of our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. George Economou. The loss of Mr. Economou's services to our Company could adversely affect our discussions with our lenders and management of our fleet during this difficult economic period and, therefore, could adversely affect our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations. We do not currently, nor do we intend to, maintain "key man" life insurance on any of our personnel, including Mr. Economou.

Our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer has affiliations with TMS Bulkers and TMS Offshore Services which could create conflicts of interest.

Our major shareholder is controlled by Mr. George Economou, who controls five entities that, in the aggregate, were deemed to beneficially own, directly or indirectly, approximately 17.6% of our outstanding common shares as of March 31, 2016.  Mr. Economou controls TMS Bulkers and TMS Offshore Services. Mr. Economou is also our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and a director of our Company. These responsibilities and relationships could create conflicts of interest between us, on the one hand, and TMS Bulkers and TMS Offshore Services, on the other hand. These conflicts may arise in connection with the chartering, purchase, sale and operations of the vessels in our fleet versus vessels managed by TMS Bulkers or TMS Offhore and/ or other companies affiliated with TMS Bulkers or TMS Offshore Services and Mr. Economou.

In particular, TMS Bulkers or TMS Offshore Services may give preferential treatment to vessels that are beneficially owned by related parties because Mr. Economou and members of his family may receive greater economic benefits.

We no longer own a majority of the shares of Ocean Rig, and this has led to the deconsolidation of Ocean Rig. This has materially affected our financial results, for accounting purposes, and going forward our financial results will differ significantly from those reported in prior years.

As of June 8, 2015, we no longer owned a majority of the shares of Ocean Rig. As a result, from June 8, 2015, Ocean Rig became our affiliated entity and not our controlled subsidiary. Accordingly, as of June 8, 2015, Ocean Rig's financial results have been deconsolidated for accounting purposes from our financial results. The deconsolidation of Ocean Rig, resulted in a significant loss on change of control of $1.3 billion and will have a material effect on our future financial results, relative to our financial results prior to the deconsolidation. As a result, our financial results for the fiscal year ended 2015 differ significantly from prior years. See Note 10 to our Audited Financial Statements included herein for further discussion of the impact of the deconsolidation of Ocean Rig. We subsequently sold all of our shares of Ocean Rig to Ocean Rig Investments, Inc., a subsidiary of Ocean Rig, on April 5, 2016.

 

We depend on officers and directors who are associated with Ocean Rig, a company in which we have a substantial equity investment and which may create conflicts of interest.

 

Our officers and directors have fiduciary duties to manage our business in a manner beneficial to us and our shareholders. However, our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. George Economou, is also the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Rig., a company which although we do no longer consider as one of our subsidiaries and in which we no longer hold any equity interests.. In addition, our Executive Vice President, Mr. Anthony Kandylidis is also the Executive Vice President of Ocean Rig. Mr. Economou has fiduciary duties to manage the business of Ocean Rig in a manner beneficial to Ocean Rig and its shareholders and may have conflicts of interest in matters involving or affecting us and our customers or shareholders. In addition, Messrs. Economou and Kandylidis may have conflicts of interest when faced with decisions that could have different implications for us than they do for Ocean Rig. The resolution of these conflicts may not always be in our best interest or that of our shareholders and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.

 

In addition, we have engaged Vivid Finance Ltd, TMS Bulkers Ltd. and TMS Offshore Services Ltd., companies controlled by Mr. Economou to provide consulting and other services relating to our vessels, as well as financing matters relating to us and our subsidiaries. If any of these conflicts of interest are not resolved in our favor, this could have a material adverse effect on our business.

As we expand our business, we may need to improve our operating and financial systems and will need to recruit suitable employees and crew for our vessels.

Our current operating and financial systems may not be adequate as we expand the size of our fleet and our attempts to improve those systems may be ineffective. In addition, as we expand our fleet, we will need to recruit suitable additional seafarers and shoreside administrative and management personnel. We may be unable to hire suitable employees as we expand our fleet. If we or our crewing agent encounters business or financial difficulties, we may not be able to adequately staff our vessels. If we are unable to grow our financial and operating systems or to recruit suitable employees as we expand our fleet, our financial performance and our ability to pay dividends, if any, in the future may be adversely affected.

U.S. tax authorities could treat us as a "passive foreign investment company," which could have adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. shareholders.

A foreign corporation will be treated as a "passive foreign investment company," or a PFIC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes if either (1) at least 75% of its gross income for any taxable year consists of certain types of "passive income" or (2) at least 50% of the average value of the corporation's assets produce or are held for the production of those types of "passive income." For purposes of these tests, "passive income" includes dividends, interest, and gains from the sale or exchange of investment property and rents and royalties other than rents and royalties which are received from unrelated parties in connection with the active conduct of a trade or business. For purposes of these tests, income derived from the performance of services does not constitute "passive income." U.S. shareholders of a PFIC are subject to a disadvantageous U.S. federal income tax regime with respect to the income derived by the PFIC, the distributions they receive from the PFIC and the gain, if any, they derive from the sale or other disposition of their shares in the PFIC.

Based on our method of operation, we do not believe that we are, have been or will be a PFIC with respect to any taxable year. In this regard, we intend to treat the gross income we derive or are deemed to derive from our time and voyage chartering activities as services income, rather than rental income. Accordingly, we believe that our income from our time and voyage chartering activities does not constitute passive income, and the assets that we own and operate in connection with the production of that income do not constitute assets that produce or are held for production of passive income.

There is substantial legal authority supporting this position consisting of case law and U.S. Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, pronouncements concerning the characterization of income derived from time charters and voyage charters as services income for other tax purposes. However, it should be noted that there is also authority which characterizes time charter income as rental income rather than services income for other tax purposes. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that the IRS or a court of law will accept this position, and there is a risk that the IRS or a court of law could determine that we are a PFIC. Moreover, no assurance can be given that we would not constitute a PFIC for any future taxable year if the nature and extent of our operations changed.

If the IRS were to find that we are or have been a PFIC for any taxable year, our U.S. shareholders will face adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and information reporting obligations. Under the PFIC rules, unless those shareholders make an election available under the Code (which election could itself have adverse consequences for such shareholders), such shareholders would be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the then prevailing income tax rates on ordinary income plus interest upon excess distributions and upon any gain from the disposition of our common shares, as if the excess distribution or gain had been recognized ratably over the U.S. shareholder's holding period of our common shares. See "Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation" for a more comprehensive discussion of the U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. shareholders if we are treated as a PFIC.

We may have to pay tax on United States source shipping income, which would reduce our earnings.

Under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or the Code, 50% of the gross shipping income of a vessel-owning or -chartering corporation, such as ourselves and certain of our subsidiaries, that is attributable to transportation that begins or ends, but that does not both begin and end, in the United States may be subject to a 4% U.S. federal income tax without allowance for any deductions, unless that corporation qualifies for exemption from tax under Section 883 of the Code and the Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder.

We expect that we and each of our vessel-owning subsidiaries qualify for this statutory tax exemption and we have taken and intend to continue to take this position for U.S. federal income tax return reporting purposes. However, there are factual circumstances beyond our control that could cause us to lose the benefit of this tax exemption and thereby become subject to U.S. federal income tax on our U.S. source shipping income. For example, we would no longer qualify for exemption under Section 883 of the Code for a particular taxable year if shareholders, resident in jurisdictions other than "qualified foreign countries", with a five percent or greater interest in our common shares owned, in the aggregate, 50% or more of our outstanding common shares for more than half of the days during the taxable year. Due to the factual nature of the issues involved, it is possible that our tax-exempt status or that of any of our subsidiaries may change.

If we or our vessel-owning subsidiaries are not entitled to this exemption under Section 883 for any taxable year, we or our subsidiaries could be subject for those years to an effective 2% (i.e., 50% of 4%) U.S. federal income tax on our gross shipping income attributable to transportation that begins or ends, but that does not both begin and end, in the United States. The imposition of this taxation could have a negative effect on our business and would result in decreased earnings available for distribution to our shareholders.

A change in tax laws, treaties or regulations, or their interpretation, of any country in which we operate our offshore support could result in a high tax rate on our worldwide earnings, which could result in a significant negative impact on our earnings and cash flows from operations.

We conduct our worldwide offshore support operations through various subsidiaries. Tax laws and regulations are highly complex and subject to interpretation. Consequently, we are subject to changing tax laws, treaties and regulations in and between countries in which we operate. Our income tax expense is based upon our interpretation of tax laws in effect in various countries at the time that the expense was incurred. A change in these tax laws, treaties or regulations, or in the interpretation thereof, or in the valuation of our deferred tax assets, could result in a materially higher tax expense or a higher effective tax rate on our worldwide earnings in our offshore support segment, and such change could be significant to our financial results. If any tax authority successfully challenges our operational structure, inter-company pricing policies or the taxable presence of our key subsidiaries in certain countries; or if the terms of certain income tax treaties are interpreted in a manner that is adverse to our structure; or if we lose a material tax dispute in any country, particularly in the United States or Brazil, our effective tax rate on our worldwide earnings from our offshore support operations could increase substantially and our earnings and cash flows from these operations could be materially adversely affected.

Our subsidiaries that provide services relating to offshore support may be subject to taxation in the jurisdictions in which such activities are conducted. Such taxation would result in decreased earnings available to our shareholders.

Investors are encouraged to consult their own tax advisors concerning the overall tax consequences of the ownership of our common shares arising in an investor's particular situation under U.S. federal, state, local and foreign law.

Our vessels may call on ports located in or may operate in, countries that are subject to restrictions imposed by the U.S. or other governments, which could adversely affect our reputation and the market for our common shares.

During the year ended December 31, 2015, none of our vessels has called on ports located in, and none of our offshore support vessels has operated in, countries subject to sanctions and embargoes imposed by the U.S. government and other authorities or countries identified by the U.S. government or other authorities as state sponsors of terrorism, such as Iran, Sudan and Syria; however our vessels and offshore support vessels may call on ports or operate in these countries from time to time in the future on our charterers' instructions. The U.S. sanctions and embargo laws and regulations vary in their application, as they do not all apply to the same covered persons or proscribe the same activities, and such sanctions and embargo laws and regulations may be amended or strengthened over time. In 2010, the U.S. enacted the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Accountability and Divestment Act, or CISADA, which amended the Iran Sanctions Act. Among other things, CISADA introduced limits on the ability of companies and persons to do business or trade with Iran when such activities relate to the investment, supply or export of refined petroleum or petroleum products. In 2012, President Obama signed Executive Order 13608 which prohibits foreign persons from violating or attempting to violate, or causing a violation of any sanctions in effect against Iran or facilitating any deceptive transactions for or on behalf of any person subject to U.S. sanctions. Any persons found to be in violation of Executive Order 13608 will be deemed a foreign sanctions evader and will be banned from all contacts with the United States, including conducting business in U.S. dollars. Also in 2012, President Obama signed into law the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, or the Iran Threat Reduction Act, which created new sanctions and strengthened existing sanctions. Among other things, the Iran Threat Reduction Act intensifies existing sanctions regarding the provision of goods, services, infrastructure or technology to Iran's petroleum or petrochemical sector. The Iran Threat Reduction Act also includes a provision requiring the President of the United States to impose five or more sanctions from Section 6(a) of the Iran Sanctions Act, as amended, on a person the President determines is a controlling beneficial owner of, or otherwise owns, operates, or controls or insures a vessel that was used to transport crude oil from Iran to another country and (1) if the person is a controlling beneficial owner of the vessel, the person had actual knowledge the vessel was so used or (2) if the person otherwise owns, operates, or controls, or insures the vessel, the person knew or should have known the vessel was so used. Such a person could be subject to a variety of sanctions, including exclusion from U.S. capital markets, exclusion from financial transactions subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and exclusion of that person's vessels from U.S. ports for up to two years.

On November 24, 2013, the P5+1 (the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia and China) entered into an interim agreement with Iran entitled the "Joint Plan of Action" ("JPOA"). Under the JPOA it was agreed that, in exchange for Iran taking certain voluntary measures to ensure that its nuclear program is used only for peaceful purposes, the U.S. and EU would voluntarily suspend certain sanctions for a period of six months.

On January 20, 2014, the U.S. and E.U. indicated that they would begin implementing the temporary relief measures provided for under the JPOA. These measures include, among other things, the suspension of certain sanctions on the Iranian petrochemicals, precious metals, and automotive industries from January 20, 2014 until July 20, 2014. The JPOA was subsequently extended twice.

On July 14, 2015, the P5+1 and the EU announced that they reached a landmark agreement with Iran titled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran's Nuclear Program (the "JCPOA"), which is intended to significantly restrict Iran's ability to develop and produce nuclear weapons for 10 years while simultaneously easing sanctions directed toward non-U.S. persons for conduct involving Iran, but taking place outside of U.S. jurisdiction and does not involve U.S. persons.  On January 16, 2016 ("Implementation Day"), the United States joined the EU and the UN in lifting a significant number of their nuclear-related sanctions on Iran following an announcement by the International Atomic Energy Agency ("IAEA") that Iran had satisfied its respective obligations under the JCPOA.

U.S. sanctions prohibiting certain conduct that is now permitted under the JCPOA have not actually been repealed or permanently terminated at this time.  Rather, the U.S. government has implemented changes to the sanctions regime by: (1) issuing waivers of certain statutory sanctions provisions; (2) committing to refrain from exercising certain discretionary sanctions authorities; (3) removing certain individuals and entities from OFAC's sanctions lists; and (4) revoking certain Executive Orders and specified sections of Executive Orders.  These sanctions will not be permanently "lifted" until the earlier of "Transition Day," set to occur on October 20, 2023, or upon a report from the IAEA stating that all nuclear material in Iran is being used for peaceful activities.

Although it is our intention to comply with the provisions of the JPOA, there can be no assurance that we will be in compliance in the future as such regulations and U.S. Sanctions may be amended over time, and the U.S. retains the authority to revoke the aforementioned relief if Iran fails to meet its commitments under the JPOA.

Although we believe that we have been in compliance with all applicable sanctions and embargo laws and regulations, and intend to maintain such compliance, there can be no assurance that we will be in compliance in the future, particularly as the scope of certain laws may be unclear and may be subject to changing interpretations. Any such violation could result in fines, penalties or other sanctions that could severely impact our ability to access U.S. capital markets and conduct our business, and could result in some investors deciding, or being required, to divest their interest, or not to invest, in us. In addition, certain institutional investors may have investment policies or restrictions that prevent them from holding securities of companies that have contracts with countries identified by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. The determination by these investors not to invest in, or to divest from, our common shares may adversely affect the price at which our common shares trade. Moreover, our charterers may violate applicable sanctions and embargo laws and regulations as a result of actions that do not involve us or our vessels, and those violations could in turn negatively affect our reputation. In addition, our reputation and the market for our securities may be adversely affected if we engage in certain other activities, such as entering into charters with individuals or entities in countries subject to U.S. sanctions and embargo laws that are not controlled by the governments of those countries, or engaging in operations associated with those countries pursuant to contracts with third parties that are unrelated to those countries or entities controlled by their governments. Investor perception of the value of our common shares may be adversely affected by the consequences of war, the effects of terrorism, civil unrest and governmental actions in these and surrounding countries.

We may be subject to premium payment calls because we obtain some of our insurance through protection and indemnity associations.

For our drybulk vessels, we may be subject to increased premium payments, or calls, in amounts based on our claim records as well as the claim records of other members of the protection and indemnity associations in the International Group, which is comprised of 13 mutual protection and indemnity associations and insures approximately 90% of the world's commercial tonnage and through which we receive insurance coverage for tort liability, including pollution-related liability, as well as actual claims. Although there is no cap to the amount of such supplemental calls, historically, supplemental calls for our drybulk fleet have ranged from 0% to 40% of the annual insurance premiums, and in no year were such amounts material to the results of our operations.

Our customers may be involved in the handling of environmentally hazardous substances and if discharged into the ocean may subject us to pollution liability which could have a negative impact on our cash flows, results of operations and ability to pay dividends, if any, in the future.

Our operations may involve the use or handling of materials that may be classified as environmentally hazardous substances. Environmental laws and regulations applicable in the countries in which we conduct operations have generally become more stringent. Such laws and regulations may expose us to liability for the conduct of or for conditions caused by others, or for our acts that were in compliance with all applicable laws at the time such actions were taken.

While we conduct maintenance on our offshore support vessels in an effort to prevent such releases, future releases could occur, especially as our vessels age. Such releases may be large in quantity, above our permitted limits or in protected or other areas in which public interest groups or governmental authorities have an interest. These releases could result in fines and other costs to us, such as costs to upgrade our vessels, costs to clean up the pollution, and costs to comply with more stringent requirements in our discharge permits. Moreover, these releases may result in our customers or governmental authorities suspending or terminating our operations in the affected area, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operation and financial condition.

We expect that we will be able to obtain some degree of contractual indemnification from our customers in most of our offshore support contracts against pollution and environmental damages. But such indemnification may not be enforceable in all instances, the customer may not be financially capable in all cases of complying with its indemnity obligations or we may not be able to obtain such indemnification agreements in the future.

We may be subject to litigation that, if not resolved in our favor and not sufficiently insured against, could have a material adverse effect on us.

We have been and may be, from time to time, involved in various litigation matters. These matters may include, among other things, contract disputes, personal injury claims, environmental claims or proceedings, asbestos and other toxic tort claims, employment matters, governmental claims for taxes or duties, and other litigation that arises in the ordinary course of our business. Although we intend to defend these matters vigorously, we cannot predict with certainty the outcome or effect of any claim or other litigation matter, and the ultimate outcome of any litigation or the potential costs to resolve them may have a material adverse effect on us. Insurance may not be applicable or sufficient in all cases and/or insurers may not remain solvent which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

Failure to comply with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and anti – bribery and anti – corruption regulations in other jurisdictions in which we operate could result in fines, criminal penalties, offshore support contract terminations and an adverse effect on our business.

We may operate in a number of countries throughout the world, including countries known to have a reputation for corruption. We are committed to doing business in accordance with applicable anti-corruption laws and have adopted a code of business conduct and ethics which is consistent and in full compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, or the FCPA. We are subject, however, to the risk that we, our affiliated entities or our or their respective officers, directors, employees and agents may take actions determined to be in violation of such anti-corruption laws, including the FCPA and anti – corruption and anti – bribery laws in other jurisdictions in which we operate such as Brazil and the U.K. Any such violation could result in substantial fines, sanctions, civil and/or criminal penalties, curtailment of operations in certain jurisdictions, and might adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. In addition, actual or alleged violations could damage our reputation and ability to do business. Furthermore, detecting, investigating, and resolving actual or alleged violations is expensive and can consume significant time and attention of our senior management.

Risks Relating to Our Common Shares

Our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, who may be deemed to beneficially own, directly or indirectly, approximately 17.6% of our outstanding common shares, may have the power to exert control over us, which may limit your ability to influence our actions.

As of March 31, 2016, our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. George Economou, may be deemed to have beneficially owned, directly or indirectly, approximately 17.6% of our outstanding common shares and therefore may have the power to exert considerable influence over our actions. On December 30, 2015, we elected to convert $10.0 million of the outstanding principal amount of our secured revolving credit facility entered with Sifnos Shareholders Inc. a company controlled by Mr. Economou, on October 21, 2015 into 4 ,000,000 of our Series B Preferred Stock (100,000,000 before the reverse stock split).  Each preferred share had five votes and was mandatorily converted into our common shares on a one to one basis within three months after the issuance thereof on a date selected by us. On March 24, 2016, we entered into an agreement to increase the secured revolving facility and as part of the transaction we entered into a Preferred Stock Exchange Agreement to exchange the 4 ,000,000 of our Series B Preferred Stock   (100,000,000 before the reverse stock split) held by the lender for $8.75 million. We subsequently cancelled the Series B Preferred Shares previously held by Sifnos, effective March 24, 2016. The interests of our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer may be different from your interests.

Future sales of our common shares could cause the market price of our common shares to decline.

The market price of our common shares could decline due to sales, or the announcements of proposed sales, of a large number of common shares in the market, including sales of common shares by our large shareholders, or the perception that these sales could occur. These sales, or the perception that these sales could occur, could also make it more difficult or impossible for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and price that we deem appropriate to raise funds through future offerings of common shares.

Our Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation authorize our board of directors to, among other things, issue additional shares of common or preferred stock or securities convertible or exchangeable into equity securities, without shareholder approval. We may issue such additional equity or convertible securities to raise additional capital. The issuance of any additional shares of common or preferred stock or convertible securities could be substantially dilutive to our shareholders. Moreover, to the extent that we issue restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights, options or warrants to purchase our common shares in the future and those stock appreciation rights, options or warrants are exercised or as the restricted stock units vest, our shareholders may experience further dilution. Holders of shares of our common shares have no preemptive rights that entitle such holders to purchase their pro rata share of any offering of shares of any class or series and, therefore, such sales or offerings could result in increased dilution to our shareholders.

There is no guarantee of a continuing public market for you to resell our common shares.

Our common shares commenced trading on the NASDAQ National Market, now the NASDAQ Global Market, in February 2005. Our common shares now trade on the NASDAQ Capital Market. We cannot assure you that an active and liquid public market for our common shares will continue. The price of our common shares may be volatile and may fluctuate due to factors such as:

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actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly and annual results and those of other public companies in our industry;

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mergers and strategic alliances in the drybulk shipping industry;

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market conditions in the drybulk shipping industry and the general state of the securities markets;

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changes in government regulation;

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shortfalls in our operating results from levels forecast by securities analysts; and

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announcements concerning us or our competitors.

On April 13, 2015, we received a bid deficiency notice letter from Nasdaq stating that based upon the closing bid price for the last 30 consecutive business days prior to the letter, the Company no longer meets the Nasdaq requirement of having its listed securities maintaining a minimum $1 bid price. We were granted a 180 day period in which to regain compliance by having the closing bid price of our common shares listed on Nasdaq of at least $1 for a minimum of ten consecutive business days.  We asked for and were granted a second 180 compliance period which is deemed to expire on April 17, 2016.  We transferred our common shares to the Nasdaq Capital Market in October of 2015.

On February 19, 2016, the Company's Board of Directors has determined to effect a 1-for-25 reverse stock split of the Company's common shares. The reverse stock split occured, and the Company's common stock began trading on a split adjusted basis on the Nasdaq Capital Market, as of the opening of trading on March 11, 2016. Since then, Nasdaq Stock Market has determined that for the last 10 consecutive business days, from March 11 to 24, 2016, the closing bid price of the Company's common stock has been at $1.00 per share or greater. Accordingly, the Company has regained compliance with Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) and this matter is now closed.   Although our shares are currently trading above the minimum $1 bid price required by Nasdaq, there is no guarantee that our shares will stay above the maximum $1 bid price reqiured by Nasdaq.

Anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents could make it difficult for our stockholders to replace or remove our current board of directors or have the effect of discouraging, delaying or preventing a merger or acquisition, which could adversely affect the market price of our common shares.

Several provisions of our Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws could make it difficult for our stockholders to change the composition of our board of directors in any one year, preventing them from changing the composition of management. In addition, the same provisions may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that stockholders may consider favorable.

These provisions include:

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authorizing our board of directors to issue "blank check" preferred stock without stockholder approval;

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providing for a classified board of directors with staggered, three-year terms;

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prohibiting cumulative voting in the election of directors;

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authorizing the removal of directors only for cause and only upon the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common shares entitled to vote for the directors;

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prohibiting stockholder action by written consent unless the written consent is signed by all shareholders entitled to vote on the action;

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limiting the persons who may call special meetings of stockholders;

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establishing advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted on by stockholders at stockholder meetings; and

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restricting business combinations with interested shareholders.

In addition, we have entered into a stockholders rights agreement that will make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us without the support of our board of directors. See "Item 10. Additional Information—B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Stockholders Rights Agreement."

The above anti-takeover provisions, including the provisions of our stockholders rights plan, could substantially impede the ability of public stockholders to benefit from a change in control and, as a result, may adversely affect the market price of our common shares and your ability to realize any potential change of control premium.

We are incorporated in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, which does not have a well-developed body of corporate law, and as a result, shareholders may have fewer rights and protections under Marshall Islands law than under a typical jurisdiction in the United States.

Our corporate affairs are governed by our Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws and by the Marshall Islands Business Corporations Act, or the BCA. The provisions of the BCA resemble provisions of the corporation laws of a number of states in the United States. However, there have been few judicial cases in the Republic of the Marshall Islands interpreting the BCA. The rights and fiduciary responsibilities of directors under the law of the Republic of the Marshall Islands are not as clearly established as the rights and fiduciary responsibilities of directors under statutes or judicial precedent in existence in certain United States jurisdictions. Shareholder rights may differ as well. While the BCA does specifically incorporate the non-statutory law, or judicial case law, of the State of Delaware and other states with substantially similar legislative provisions, our public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions by management, directors or controlling shareholders than would shareholders of a corporation incorporated in a United States jurisdiction.

We are a "foreign private issuer", which could make our common shares less attractive to some investors or otherwise harm our stock price.

We are a "foreign private issuer," as such term is defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act.  As a "foreign private issuer" the rules governing the information that we disclose differ from those governing U.S. corporations pursuant to the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. We are not required to file quarterly reports on Form 10-Q or provide current reports on Form 8-K disclosing significant events within four days of their occurrence. In addition, our officers and directors are exempt from the reporting and "short-swing" profit recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and related rules with respect to their purchase and sales of our securities. Our exemption from the rules of Section 16 of the Exchange Act regarding sales of ordinary shares by insiders means that you will have less data in this regard than shareholders of U.S. companies that are subject to the Exchange Act. Moreover, we are exempt from the proxy rules, and proxy statements that we distribute will not be subject to review by the SEC. Accordingly there may be less publicly available information concerning us than there is for other U.S. public companies.  These factors could make our common shares less attractive to some investors or otherwise harm our stock price.