Jon E. Sundnes, Managing Director of Estonian Shipping Company (ESCO - Tallinn) informs:

We are pleased to inform that we have entered into a new cooperation with the well-reputed Icelandic shipping company, Samskip hf (Samskip).

In this connection Samskip has purchased 50% of the shares in T&E ESCO Container Lines AS, Tallinn, Estonia and we look forward to cooperate with Samskip in the future states Jon E. Sundnes.

T&E ESCO Container Lines AS currently operates container lines with 4 container vessels linking the ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Bremerhaven and Hamburg with Stockholm, Helsinki and Muuga/Tallinn in the Baltic Sea.

Samskip has 25 offices in 10 different countries and offers door-to-door transport in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea as well as overseas. Samskip employs 900 employees and generated a turnover of USD 205 million in 2002.

The container lines operated by T&E ESCO Container Lines AS have seen a positive development in 2002 and it is our belief that our joint forces will strengthen the container lines even further in a geographical area where we see many possibilities for continued development and expanded cooperation with Samskip’s existing lines, states Olafur Olafsson, President of Samskip.

At the same time Niels Tolstrup from ESCO will take up the position of Managing Director of T&E ESCO Container Lines AS. The daily business of T&E ESCO Container Lines AS will continue to be conducted out of the offices of the company in Tallinn.

If you have any questions please refer to:

Jon Edvard Sundnes

Managing Director

Estonian Shipping Co.Ltd.

Phone: + 372 506 1032

Niels Tolstrup

Managing director

T&E ESCO Container Lines AS

Phone: +45 26309520 or +372 5044998