K-Sea Announces 2Q Results

K-Sea Transportation Partners L.P. reported earnings for its predecessor, K-Sea Transportation LLC and subsidiaries, for the three and six month periods ended December 31, 2003. On January 14, 2004, the business of K-Sea Transportation LLC and its subsidiaries was contributed to K-Sea Transportation Partners L.P. in connection with the initial public offering of common units representing limited partnership interests in K-Sea Transportation Partners L.P. For the three months ended December 31, 2003, net income was $0.2 million, compared to $0.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2002. The decrease of $0.2 million resulted from a decrease of $0.4 million in operating income, partially offset by reduced interest expense. For the six months ended December 31, 2003, net income increased to $1.5 million from $0.3 million for the six months ended December 31, 2002. The increase of $1.2 million resulted from an increase in operating income of $1.0 million and a reduction of interest expense of $0.2 million. For the three months ended December 31, 2003, operating income was $2.2 million, compared to $2.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2002. The decrease of $0.4 million resulted primarily from a greater number of scheduled shipyard days for K-Sea's tug and barge fleet. The increase in scheduled shipyard days resulted in lower utilization of certain larger coastwise vessels including the KTC 155, which began its double-hulling process in the second quarter, and increases in certain related operating expenses. For the six months ended December 31, 2003, operating income was $5.9 million, compared to $4.9 million for the six months ended December 31, 2002. The increase of $1.0 million resulted primarily from the operation of two newbuild tank barges, the DBL 81 and DBL 82, which were delivered in February and June, respectively, of 2003. For the three months ended December 31, 2003, net voyage revenue (voyage revenue less voyage expenses) was $17.3 million, which approximated the net voyage revenue for the three months ended December 31, 2002. For the six months ended December 31, 2003, net voyage revenue was $35.9 million, compared to $33.9 million for the six months ended December 31, 2002. The increase of $2.0 million resulted primarily from the operation of the newbuilds DBL 81 and DBL 82.