Business
Paragon Shipping Issues Letter To Shareholders
Paragon Shipping Issues Letter To Shareholders.
About this update from Paragon Shipping Inc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nParagon Shipping Issues Letter To Shareholders\n\n/* Style Definitions */\nspan.prnews_span\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\na.prnews_a\n{\ncolor:blue;\n}\nli.prnews_li\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\np.prnews_p\n{\nfont-size:0.62em;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\nmargin:0in;\n}\n\n\n\n\n\n\nParagon Shipping Issues Letter To Shareholders\nPR Newswire\nATHENS, Greece, July 11, 2016\n\n\n\nATHENS, Greece, July 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Paragon Shipping Inc. (OTCQB: PRGNF) an international shipping company incorporated under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands with executive offices in Athens, Greece, specializing in the transportation of drybulk cargoes, today released a letter to shareholders.\n\nTo our shareholders:\n\nNow that we are half way through 2016 I want to update you on recent events, explain the actions we are taking at this difficult time, and give you my thoughts moving forward.\n\nThe famous inventor Thomas Edison once said, \"Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.\"  \n\nI find that steering Paragon through a long, cyclical downturn is just that: a lot of hard work. We need to continue to work hard, stick to our plans, and ultimately get through these hard times.\n\nLike you, I have watched as maritime shipping has been mired in a down cycle. The entire drybulk shipping sector has suffered and, along with the container and LNG sectors, we are at cyclical lows.\n\nI have seen these times before. I have been in marine shipping, as a shipping company founder, executive and technical superintendent supervising vessels for other shipping companies, for more than 35 years. These highs and lows are a part of life and we understand the classically cyclical nature of the business. Times like these are not only financially difficult, they are humbling as well.\n\nAt Paragon, we are doing the prudent thing. We are managing through the downturn, working closely with our lenders, and positioning ourselves to be able to capitalize when times change—which they will.\n\nIn recent months we have taken important steps to:\n\n\nSubstantially reduce our costs; \nSignificantly improve our balance sheet by entering settlement agreements with all lenders; \nExtinguish $135 million in debt through sale of vess...