<SEC-DOCUMENT>0000919574-12-005701.txt : 20121016
<SEC-HEADER>0000919574-12-005701.hdr.sgml : 20121016
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20121016171859
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0000919574-12-005701
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	6-K
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
CONFORMED PERIOD OF REPORT:	20121031
FILED AS OF DATE:		20121016
DATE AS OF CHANGE:		20121016

FILER:

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			Ship Finance International LTD
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0001289877
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	DEEP SEA FOREIGN TRANSPORTATION OF FREIGHT [4412]
		IRS NUMBER:				000000000

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		6-K
		SEC ACT:		1934 Act
		SEC FILE NUMBER:	001-32199
		FILM NUMBER:		121146842

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		14 PAR-LA-VILLE ROAD
		CITY:			HAMILTON, HM 08
		STATE:			D0
		ZIP:			00000-0000
		BUSINESS PHONE:		441-295-9500

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		14 PAR-LA-VILLE ROAD
		CITY:			HAMILTON, HM 08
		STATE:			D0
		ZIP:			00000-0000
</SEC-HEADER>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>6-K
<SEQUENCE>1
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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="justify"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ________.</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="justify"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ________.</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Note</font>: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted to furnish a report or other document that the registrant foreign private issuer must furnish and make public under the laws of the jurisdiction in which the registrant is incorporated, domiciled or legally organized (the registrant's "home country"), or under the rules of the home country exchange on which the registrant's securities are traded, as long as the report or other document is not a press release, is not required to be and has not been distributed to the registrant's security holders, and, if discussing a material event, has already been the subject of a Form 6-K submission or other Commission filing on EDGAR.</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="center"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS FORM 6-K REPORT</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 36pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Attached hereto as Exhibit 1 is a copy of the press release of Ship Finance International Limited (the "Company"), dated October 15, 2012, announcing the Company's sale of the vessel Front Driver and the resulting charter termination compensation from Frontline Ltd.</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Press release from Ship Finance International Limited, October 15, 2012</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE:SFL) ("Ship Finance" or the "Company"), today announced that it has agreed to sell the 21-year old combination carrier Front Driver to an unrelated third party and has simultaneously agreed to terminate the corresponding charter party with a subsidiary of Frontline Ltd. ("Frontline").</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Delivery to the new owner is expected to be in the fourth quarter of 2012 and Ship Finance expects to receive net proceeds of approximately $9.6 million including a $0.5 million charter termination compensation payment from Frontline. As a result of the sale, the Company expects to record a book gain of approximately $3.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Harald Gurvin, Chief Financial Officer, Ship Finance Management AS</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">About Ship Finance</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Ship Finance is a leading ship-owning company with one of the largest and most diverse asset bases across the maritime and offshore industries.&#160;&#160;It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol "SFL"&#160;&#160;Including newbuildings, the Company has a fleet of 66 vessels that consists of 25 crude oil tankers (VLCC and Suezmax), two chemical tankers, three oil/bulk/ore vessels, 11 drybulk carriers including, two newbuildings, 15 container vessels including, four newbuildings, six offshore supply vessels, one jack-up drilling rig, one ultra-deepwater drillship and two ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rigs. Most of the vessels and offshore drilling units are employed on long-term charters.&#160;&#160;More information can be found on the Company's website: www.shipfinance.org</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">This press release may contain forward looking statements. These statements are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including Ship Finance management's examination of historical operating trends. Although Ship Finance believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond its control, Ship Finance cannot give assurance that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or intentions.</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Important factors that, in the Company's view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in this presentation include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions including fluctuations in charter hire rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the tanker market as a result of changes in OPEC's petroleum production levels and worldwide oil consumption and storage, changes in the Company's operating expenses including bunker prices, dry-docking and insurance costs, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, and other important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman">Date: October 16, 2012</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman">SHIP FINANCE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman">By:</font></div>
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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman">Ole B. Hjertaker</font></div>
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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman">Chief Executive Officer</font></div>
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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman">(<font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-STYLE: italic">Principal Executive Officer</font>)</font></div>
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