Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Note  6.  Commitments and Contingencies

Vessel Technical Management Contract

The Company has technical management agreements for certain of its vessels with independent technical managers. The Company paid average monthly technical management fees of $9,698 and $9,652 per vessel during the six months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Legal Proceedings

We are involved in legal proceedings and we may become involved in other legal matters arising in the ordinary course of our business. We evaluate these legal matters on a case-by-case basis to make a determination as to the impact, if any, on our business, liquidity, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. We currently are party to the legal proceedings described below.

Korea Line Corporation

We have asserted a claim against one of our charters, KLC, as discussed in Note 1 above. We evaluated the KLC matter to make a determination as to the impact on our business, liquidity, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows and have recorded in the first quarter of 2011 $6,586,900 as allowance for bad debt.

Shareholder Derivative Lawsuit

On June 13, 2011, a complaint against our board of directors and a former director was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging that the directors breached their fiduciary duties of loyalty, good faith and care in connection with (i) director and officer compensation in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010; (ii) the Company's Management Agreement with Delphin Shipping LLC (“Delphin”) and the participation of the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board and his ownership interest in Delphin; and (iii) the adjournment of the Company's 2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The complaint seeks rescission of director and officer compensation for those years and the Management Agreement, as well as unspecified damages. The Company has not yet responded to the complaint. The Company is reviewing the allegations in the complaint but believes them to be without merit and intends to defend the action vigorously.