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Barge operator K-Sea Transportation Partners L.P. has reported a 9.3 percent drop in net earnings during its third fiscal quarter ended March 31 2009.

The company reported a net income of $3.9 million, or $0.24 per share, compared with $4.3 million, or $0.31 per share for the three months ended March 31 2008.

K-Sea Transportation said the decrease resulted from a $1.2 million increase in depreciation and amortization, which was due to "our significant investment in additional tank barges and tugboats, and higher than normal drydocking expenditures over the past year."

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by $1.0 million, or 5 percent, to $22.3 million for the three months ended March 31 2009, compared to $21.3 million for the three months ended March 31 2008.

The increase in EBITDA resulted mainly from increased average daily rates and vessel utilization compared to the previous year's quarter. This was offset to some extent by increased labor costs and increased bad debt expenses of $0.6 million resulting from the resolution of an arbitration proceeding.

Commenting on the results, President and CEO Timothy J. Casey said, "We are pleased with our results for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2009 and the fact that our EBITDA has increased over the prior year's quarter. We continue to experience solid vessel utilization and average daily rates primarily due to our significant proportion of long-term charter contracts.

"As expected, the third fiscal quarter generally experiences winter slowdowns in the Alaskan and Great Lakes markets, which were slightly offset by a normal winter in the northeast. As vessel utilization likely experiences a seasonal strengthening in the current quarter, we expect EBITDA will increase sequentially, as it has in the past."

Net income for the nine months ended March 31 2009 was $11.4 million, or $0.72 per share, a decrease of $7.9 million, or 41 percent, compared to net income of $19.3 million, or $1.50 per share, for the nine months ended March 31 2008.

K-Sea said the fiscal 2009 period was adversely impacted by a $5.6 million decrease in operating income and a $2.1 million negative swing in other expense (income), net.