V.Ships Announces Senior Management Appointments

Roberto Giorgi, a member of the Board of the V.Ships Group, will take over as Chief Executive Officer of V.Ships Inc., which covers all shipmanagement activities of the Group, effective mid January 2003. Giorgi has worked for V.Ships since 1974, prior to which he was a serving officer on board cargo and cruise vessels. Since joining V.Ships he has managed both the Group’s New York office and Monaco office and been at the forefront of all major developments in recent years. Giorgi’s new appointment will take effect following the planned retirement of Peter Cooney in mid January. Peter Cooney’s experience and talent will not be lost to the Group as he will continue to assist V.Ships in its strategic development in a non-executive capacity. Bob Bishop has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer. He has been working alongside Peter Cooney for the past 24 months and will provide the continuity of service to clients and in the management of the worldwide offices. Reporting to Giorgi and Bishop will be the Divisional Directors responsible for technical, risk, quality and safety, human resources, crewing and financial, as well as 14 regional Managing Directors responsible for providing the personal service to clients and their ships wherever they are in the world. Roberto Giorgi said “I look forward to building on the solid foundations that Peter Cooney has laid for V.Ships and on behalf of the Group, thank him for having overseen the integration of V.Ships and Acomarit with such skill and enthusiasm.” He continued, “Our many shipowning clients have been very supportive during the process of integration of the two largest shipmanagement entities. V.Ships is now looking forward to delivering to those clients the benefits of what has been achieved. One of my first jobs is to emphasise that, not withstanding our size, we have the organisation able to customise our service and our specialist skills, which can really add value to an owners operations as part of the value chain.” Lorenzo Malvarosa will continue in his role as Chief Operating Officer of the Leisure Division, supporting Roberto Giorgi in the management of cruise vessels.