Hereby  JSC  Latvian  Shipping  Company  (LSC)  informs  that today, 18

February  2004, Crown Navigation Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of LSC

)  signed  a  Memorandum  of  Agreement  (MOA)  with  each of Pink Star

Shipping  Ltd. , Purple Star Shipping Ltd. and Coral Star Shipping Ltd.

to acquire a total of three modern handy-max tankers .

As  reported  earlier, the three 37-deadweight-ton tankers are built to

ice  class  and  designed  to carry light oil products. The vessels are

planned  to  run mostly in Northern Europe, although the possibility of

their employment in other regions cannot be excluded.

The  1-year-old  vessels (built in 2003) are planned to be delivered to

Crown Navigation Inc. or its nominated company in May - June 2004.

At  present  LSC  Group's  fleet  consists of 30 product tankers, 2 LPG

carriers,  5 reefer vessels and 1 Ro-Ro/general cargo vessel. To comply

with  the  requirements  of  the  European  Union and the International

Convention  for  the  Prevention  of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), six

Pablo Neruda type tankers will have been phased out by 2006.



Marita Ozolina-Tumanovska

Head of PR Departament

Phone: +371 7020120, 9287169

Fax: +371 7820239

E-mail : ozolina@lsc.riga