Hereby   JSC   Latvian   Shipping  Company  (LASCO)  informs  that  the

Shipbuilding  Contract  for  eight handy-size product tankers signed in

January  2004  came  into  effect  late  on  Monday, 26 April 2004. The

Contract  was  signed  by  LASCO 100% owned subsidiary Crown Navigation

Inc. and 3. Maj   shipyard in Croatia.

The receipt of a reputable Croatian bank's guarantee, stipulated by the

Contract  to  protect LASCO against the non-performance of the Contract

by  3.  Maj  ,  enabled  the  payment  of  the  first instalment to the

shipyard. The receipt of funds was confirmed by 3 . Maj   yesterday.

The  51,800-deadweight-ton ice-classed tankers with double hull will be

constructed  to  carry  both  oil  and  chemical products. Due to their

universality  the  vessels  will  be  able to trade all over the world,

including the western coast of North Europe, America, the Mediterranean

and  Russia (carrying cargoes from the Baltic and Black Sea ports). The

first  two  tankers  are scheduled for delivery in 2006, while the rest

six sister vessels - by 2009.

Negotiations  have  been  conducted  by LASCO   with a number of banks,

which  expressed  their interest in taking part in the financing of the

project.  It  is  planned  that  bank loans will cover 70% of the total

project costs, while 30% will be financed by LASCO Group  itself.



Marita Ozolina-Tumanovska

Head of PR Departament

Phone: +371 7020120

Fax: +371 7820239

E-mail : ozolina@lsc.riga