Bates, Jr. Chairman at Hercules Offshore

Hercules Offshore, Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO) announced that Chairman John T. Reynolds submitted his resignation from the company's board of directors, effective December 31, 2009, to focus on other business interests and his role as co-founder and managing director of Lime Rock Management L.P. Thomas R. Bates, Jr., who has been a director of Hercules Offshore since the company's inception in 2004, will assume the role of Chairman upon Reynolds' departure.

Bates served as President of the Discovery Group of Baker Hughes Inc., President and Chief Executive Officer of Weatherford/Enterra, Inc. and as President of Anadrill at Schlumberger Limited, among other positions. Bates received a Bachelor's, Master's and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.

In connection with Reynolds' resignation, the Board of Directors also resolved to reduce the size of the board from ten directors to nine, effective as of December 31, 2009. In addition, it is reducing the size of its Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, and Nominating and Governance Committee from four members to three.

The Board of Directors also set the date of its 2010 annual meeting of stockholders as May 11, 2010, and nominated the slate of directors who will stand for election at the meeting. These nominees are Suzanne V. Baer, Thomas R. Bates, Jr., Thomas M Hamilton, Thomas J. Madonna, and Thierry Pilenko.

(www.herculesoffshore.com)