FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(MARCH 09, 2005) SINGAPORE

International Registries, Inc. (IRI), the Maritime and Corporate Administrator of the Marshall Islands, has broken through the 25 million gross tons mark in the first quarter of 2005.

Marshall Islands now has 840 ships on its maritime registry and is currently ranked number eight in the world in terms of tonnage. The forecast is that growth will continue during the year and the registry will move up the global rankings by the end of 2005.

“We have been experiencing exceptional growth rates in attracting quality tonnage to the flag during the last few years. This landmark of 25 million tons is a milestone for the Marshall Islands maritime registry which is growing at a significant rate in a highly competitive sector,” said Bill Gallagher, President of IRI.

IRI is now focusing its attention on developing the Asian market following great success in attracting new tonnage to the registry from owners in Norway, Greece and Germany.

“We have opened offices in Shanghai and Singapore in the last year and will establish a full representative office in Tokyo in the coming months. The network will be complemented by a new office in Dalian,” said Bill McCuskey, Maritime Manager IRI (FE) Ltd.

“This investment in Asia demonstrates our commitment to providing quality maritime and corporate services to our clients in the region by providing local expertise while leveraging off a global network of offices,” said McCuskey.

Demonstrating IRI’s commitment to Asia, the four managing partners of the company, Bill Gallagher, Clay Maitland, Melissa Hurst and Tony Guida are on a tour of the regional offices in Asia.

IRI has been a maritime and corporate administrator for 55 years and has a network of senior professionals from the maritime sector, banking, law and classification societies. Marshall Islands is also an active member of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and maintains a currency of knowledge, application and interpretation of international conventions and activities within the IMO.