HAMILTON, BERMUDA -- (Marketwire) -- 08/05/09 -- TBS International Limited (NASDAQ: TBSI) announced today its financial and operating results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2009.

Second Quarter and Six Months 2009 highlights:

Metric                    Q2 2009      Q2 2008      6M 2009      6M 2008
                        -----------  ------------ -----------  ------------
Revenue (thousands)     $    72,236  $    156,947 $   143,394  $    288,523
Net (Loss)
 Income(thousands)      $   (16,913) $     52,641 $   (38,201) $     98,019
EPS (basic and diluted) $     (0.57) $       1.82 $     (1.28) $       3.44
Weighted Average Number
 of Shares(basic and
 diluted)                29,827,345    28,778,769  29,822,402    28,411,539
EBITDA(thousands)(1)    $    11,170  $     72,806 $    16,022  $    137,106
Drydock Days                    136           192         290           339

Freight Voyages
Average Daily Voyage
 TCE                    $    11,268  $     32,007 $    11,480  $     30,390
Freight Voyage Days           2,982         2,758       6,098         5,133
Tons of Cargo Shipped
 (thousands)                  2,449         2,288       4,596         4,332
Average Freight Rate for
 All Cargoes            $     24.40  $      56.25 $     27.03  $      52.37
Average Freight Rate
 excluding Aggregates   $     40.33  $      91.79 $     42.42  $      89.35
Bunker Cost/Voyage Day  $     4,190  $      7,092 $     4,365  $      6,694
Time Charter out
 Voyages
Average Daily Time
 Charter TCE            $     9,642  $     30,563 $     8,028  $     30,437
Time Charter Days             1,140           777       2,027         1,807
(1)   EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. Please refer to "Non-GAAP
      Reconciliations-EBITDA" following the financial statements included
      in this press release for a reconciliation of EBITDA to Net Income.

Management Commentary:

Joseph E. Royce, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and President, stated: "The second quarter of 2009 continued to be very challenging for TBS, and the Handymax/Handysize and General Cargo segment of the Dry Cargo Shipping Industry. For the first six months of 2009 our revenues and EBITDA declined significantly and we experienced a Net Loss, as the stimulus packages adopted by several governments around the world had not yet positively affected cargo movement and freight rates in our segment of the dry cargo transportation industry. We anticipated these financial results and, accordingly, prepaid all principal payments due on our debt through the end of 2009. Additionally, our cash balance on June 30, 2009 was $52.5 million, plus $15.2 million on deposit to cover the remaining 2009 stage advances on construction of the six Roymar Class multipurpose tweendeckers in China.

"Our financial results were not unexpected, and in our view part of the normal progression of the recovery of dry cargo ocean transportation from the depths of the severe global recession we are experiencing. The recovery is now being led by the movement of basic raw materials such as iron ore, coal, and agricultural products on Capesize and Panamax vessels. We are now seeing improvement in TBS cargo volumes and freight rates for the third quarter of 2009 with respect to bulk cargoes of minerals, metals and basic steel products which we carry on our Handymax/Handysize bulk carriers.

"The liner service and general cargo segment of our business has lagged behind the bulk cargo business and we would expect to see demand for the movement of high value finished goods and logistic services resume significantly in the latter part of this year as our customers restock their inventories and resume their projects. We are cautiously optimistic that the global stimulus packages are taking effect and that there will be a gradual return to more normalized market conditions with the developing countries at the forefront of the global economic recovery. Urbanization and core economic development, which have been the prevalent trends in developing economies around the world, especially in China, India, South America and Africa, may temporarily slow down but we believe they are irreversible.

"In this environment, we continue to leverage our strongest assets -- our worldwide team of shipping professionals and our Five-Star Service consisting of Ocean Transportation, Logistics, Port Services, Operations and Strategic Planning. We have fully staffed affiliate agencies and representative offices on five continents and are taking steps to expand our trading areas.

"We are also quickly positioning TBS to participate in the economic recovery and to take advantage of new opportunities that may arise:

--  We enhanced our local presence in Southeast Asia, moving our Senior
    Executive responsible for our Pacific Liner Service to Shanghai.
--  We reinforced our commitment to the Houston Energy and Logistics
    business segment by relocating two senior Executives to Houston, expanding
    our office and establishing a Port Warehouse. Houston is the regional
    project logistics hub.
--  We are exploring Joint Venture opportunities in the Caribbean, South
    America and Africa for logistics and ocean cargo movement.
    

"We believe that this pro-active approach combined with our efficient and reliable service will serve TBS well through the second half of 2009 and the economic recovery in 2010."

Ferdinand V. Lepere, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, commented: "I am pleased to report that as of June 30, 2009, TBS was in full compliance with all of its financial covenants. Our net debt to capitalization ratio was 33.5% with a cash balance of $52.5 million on June 30, 2009. In addition, we have $15.2 million on deposit which is to be used for our payments to the shipyard on our newbuilding program.

"Our newbuilding program for the six Roymar Class multipurpose tweendeckers is in progress and we have in place the requisite bank financing for them. So far, two vessels have been launched: one in November 2008 and the other in May 2009; however, the scheduled delivery dates on the six vessels have changed. According to the new schedule, we expect the delivery of our first vessel in the third quarter of this year, four vessels are to be delivered in 2010 and the last vessel is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2011.

"I would like to reiterate that we have decided to scale back our accelerated steel renewal program to meet only the necessary maintenance requirements. During the second quarter of 2009, we drydocked eight vessels, which includes five vessels that entered into drydocking during the first quarter for 88 days and the remaining three vessels entered drydock for 48 days."

Second Quarter 2009 Results:

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2009, total revenues were $72.2 million, a decrease of 54.0% compared to the $156.9 million for the same period in 2008. Net loss for the second quarter 2009 was $16.9 million, a decrease of 132.1% compared to $52.6 million profit for the same period in 2008. Earnings per share on a basic and diluted basis were $(0.57) in the second quarter of 2009, calculated based on 29,827,345 shares, compared to $1.82 for the second quarter 2008, calculated based on 28,778,769 shares.

EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP measure, decreased by 84.6% to $11.2 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 from $72.8 million in 2008. Please see "Non-GAAP Reconciliations - EBITDA" following the financial statements in this press release for a reconciliation of EBITDA to net income.

Revenues:

Total revenues of $72.2 million for the second quarter 2009 include voyage revenues of $59.7 million, time charter revenues of $12.2 million and logistics and other revenues of $0.3 million.

An average of 45 vessels (excluding off-hire) were operated during the second quarter 2009 compared to 39 vessels (excluding off-hire) during the same period of 2008.

Voyage Revenues:

Voyage revenues in the second quarter 2009 were $59.7 million, a decrease of $69.0 million or 53.6% from the $128.7 million during the same period in 2008.

Total cargo volume (including aggregates) increased 161,000 tons or 7.0% to 2,449,000 tons for the second quarter 2009 from 2,288,000 for the same period in 2008. The increase in cargo volume is attributed to a slight increase in both aggregates (97,000 tons) and non-aggregates (64,000 tons) carried.

Cargo volume (excluding aggregates) increased 64,000 tons or 5.2% to 1,297,000 tons for the second quarter 2009 from 1,233,000 tons for the same period in 2008. Freight rates excluding aggregates decreased $51.46 per ton or 56.1% to $40.33 per ton for the second quarter 2009 from $91.79 per ton during the same period in 2008.

Average Daily Voyage Time Charter Equivalent, which is an industry standard metric reflecting the daily net earnings of a voyage after deducting all voyage expenses from voyage revenues, was $11,268 per day in the second quarter 2009, a decrease of 64.8% from the $32,007 during the same period in 2008 and a decrease of 3.6% from the $11,685 per day during the first quarter 2009, reflecting continued weakness in the dry cargo industry.

Time Charter Revenues:

Time charter revenues decreased by $13.1 million or 51.8% to $12.2 million for the second quarter 2009 from $25.3 million for the same period in 2008, reflecting a decrease in the average charter hire rates caused by the collapse in the shipping markets.

Average Daily Time Charter Equivalent, which is an industry standard metric reflecting time charter-out revenues during the period reduced by commissions, was $9,642 per day in the second quarter 2009, a decrease of 68.5% from the $30,563 during the same period of 2008.