FSL Trust Acquires Two Crude Oil Tankers for US$140 Million

-- Transaction significantly accretive to DPU; raises quarterly distribution
by 11.6% compared to 4Q 2007

SINGAPORE, April 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- FSL Trust Management Pte. Ltd.
("FSLTM"), Trustee-Manager of First Ship Lease Trust ("FSL Trust"), announced
today (April 21, 2008 Singapore Time) that it has acquired two crude oil
tankers on Friday, 18 April 2008, from privately held and Turkey-based Geden
Lines ("Geden") for a total consideration of US$140 million. Geden is
Turkey's largest shipping company with a total of 77 ships trading or on order
at various shipyards. Geden is part of the Turkish Cukurova conglomerate
which is ultimately controlled by the prominent Karamehmet family.
The acquired vessels have been concurrently leased back to the seller for
a lease term of 10 years. The lease payments are on a floating basis
resetting on a quarterly basis in line with changes in the 3-month US$ Libor
rate. For each vessel, the lease agreement contains a total of four purchase
options for the lessee with the earliest one on the fourth anniversary of the
contract.
Significant accretion to DPU
The acquisition of the two crude oil tankers will be significantly and
immediately accretive to FSL Trust's distribution per unit ("DPU"). Assuming
no change in the equity structure of FSL Trust and after deducting estimated
incentive fees attributable to the Trustee-Manager, the acquisition is
projected to generate an additional DPU of US0.16 cent for the quarter ending
30 June 2008, and an additional DPU of US0.28 cent for each full calendar
quarter thereafter.
Rationale for the acquisition
Mr Philip Clausius, Chief Executive Officer of FSLTM, said: "We are very
pleased to have entered into this agreement with Geden, Turkey's largest
shipping company. Apart from diversifying our customer base further, we are
also entering a new market segment through the acquisition of our first crude
oil tankers.
"This US$140 million transaction brings our total asset acquisitions to
US$298 million in just over a year since our listing in March 2007. Its size
is obviously very meaningful in the context of our acquisition target of
US$300 million for FY 2008, which we continue to be very confident of meeting.
Equally important, we are delighted to again be able to deliver very
substantial and immediate DPU accretion to our unitholders. The acquisition
will raise the projected quarterly DPU by 11.6% compared to the US2.42 cent
distributed for the last quarter of 2007."
Funding
The acquisition of the two ships was fully funded upon closing by drawing
from FSL Trust's two revolving credit lines which are each arranged by The
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Co., Ltd., Singapore Branch and Bayerische Hypo-
und Vereinsbank AG, Singapore Branch. These facilities are provided on a
floating rate basis, which for this transaction provide a substantially
natural hedge for the floating rate lease income. After the funding of this
transaction, the undrawn portion of FSL Trust's credit facilities is about
US$150 million.
Impact on Portfolio
The transaction has the following impact on the lease portfolio of FSL
Trust:
a) Lessee Diversification (pre & post acquisition)
Please visit this link for charts on lease portfolio
here

b) Vessel Type Diversification (pre & post acquisition)
Please visit this link for charts on lease portfolio
here

c) Average Remaining Lease Term (excluding lease extension and early
buyout options)*

-- Pre-acquisition: approximately 8.2 years
-- Post-acquisition: approximately 8.6 years

d) Average Age of Vessels*

-- Pre-acquisition: approximately 4.7 years
-- Post-acquisition: approximately 3.9 years

* Dollar weighted average as at 31 Mar 2008

Asset Description
The two vessels acquired in this transaction, namely 'Aqua' and 'Action',
are high quality crude oil tankers of the "Aframax" class with a carrying
capacity of about 115,000 dwt each. Built by Samsung Heavy Industries in South
Korea, 'Aqua' was delivered in June 2007 and 'Action' in November 2007.
Since their deliveries the vessels have and will continue to be employed
on three-year time charters with NYSE-listed and US-based Overseas Shipholding
Group, Inc., trading predominantly in the Atlantic/Caribbean market.
Classed with Det Norske Veritas and flying the Malta flag, FSL Trust owns
the vessels through two Singapore special purpose companies.
From its initial portfolio of 13 vessels at listing, FSL Trust now has a
portfolio of 20 vessels comprising four containerships, nine product tankers,
three chemical tankers, two dry bulk carriers and two crude oil tankers.
About First Ship Lease Trust ("FSL Trust")
First Ship Lease Trust (Reuters: FSLT.SI; Bloomberg: FSLT SP) is a
provider of leasing services on a bareboat charter basis to the international
shipping industry. It has a modern, high quality and diverse portfolio of 20
vessels consisting of four containerships, nine product tankers, three
chemical tankers, two dry bulk carriers and two crude oil tankers. These
vessels have an average age of approximately four years, and an average
remaining lease period of approximately nine years (excluding extension
periods and early buy-out options).
FSL Trust is listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited
and is managed by FSL Trust Management Pte. Ltd. ("FSLTM"), the trustee-
manager. FSLTM is focused on rapidly growing the vessel portfolio of FSL
Trust through accretive acquisitions with long-term bareboat charters. It has
an acquisition target of US$300 million for FY 2008.
This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties. Actual future performance, outcomes and results may
differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements as a
result of a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Representative
examples of these factors include (without limitation) general industry and
economic conditions, interest rate trends, cost of capital and capital
availability, competition from other companies, changes in operating expenses,
trust expenses and governmental and public policy changes and the continued
availability of financing in the amounts and the terms necessary to support
future business. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which are based on current view of management on
future events.
The initial public offering of units of First Ship Lease Trust (the
"Offering") commenced on 19 March 2007 and closed on 22 March 2007. In the
Offering, Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch was the Sole Global Co-ordinator,
Joint Lead Manager and Joint Bookrunner, and J.P. Morgan (S.E.A.) Limited was
the Joint Lead Manager and Joint Bookrunner. The Co-Lead Managers to the
Offering were CLSA Merchant Bankers Limited and Macquarie Securities (Asia)
Pte Limited. The Manager and Co-ordinator of the Singapore Public Offer was
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited.
Media/Analysts Contact:

Singapore:

Weber Shandwick Worldwide
Ivan Tan
Tel: +65-9635-9765
Email: itan@webershandwick.com

United States:

IGB Group
Leon Berman
Tel: +1-212-477-8438
Email: Iberman@igbir.com

Michael Cimini
Tel: +1-212-477-8261
Email: mcimini@igbir.com

SOURCE FSL Trust Management Pte. Ltd.

Singapore: Weber Shandwick Worldwide, Ivan Tan for FSL Trust, +65-9635-9765,
itan@webershandwick.com; For other Media or Analysts Contacts, please refer to
the end of the release