Starting from the November 15, 2011 existing member of the Management Board Simon Blaydes takes over responsibilities of chairman of the Management Board of joint stock company “Latvijas kuģniecība” (Latvian Shipping Company or LSC). Paul Thomas remains as the member of the Management Board.

“Now that Simon Blaydes has had sufficient introduction to the company, LSC believes, with his financial expertise and administrative experience, it would be logical for him now to fully concentrate on the day to day running of the company on both a financial and administrative level. This extension to his current duties would enable me to concentrate fully on commercial shipping matters without distractions elsewhere. I believe this change will enable us to utilize each others skills more efficiently and be for the benefit of the company,” explains Paul Thomas, existing chairman of the Management Board.

“Despite the change, our business priorities remain unchanged. LSC management will continue to work to increase the company’s value and long term sustainability. It is the strategy of the management to concentrate its efforts on developing a strong niche in the medium sized product tanker market with a large fleet, now all less than five years old. With this profile in terms of size and quality we believe we can compete more aggressively on the international shipping markets in the future. The company’s management is also committed to achieving greater efficiency and cost management as well as raising standards of corporate governance to bring LSC in line with accepted international standards,” says P. Thomas.

Simon Blaydes has been in the position of CFO of the Arawak Group of companies, previously was a partner in the transaction support departments of Ernst & Young’s Energy Practices in Beijing, London and Kazakhstan. He is a chartered accountant and an associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

About Latvian Shipping Company

Latvian Shipping Company owns 19 modern tankers employing more than 700 well trained and experienced seamen from Latvia. In total, the commercial fleet of Latvian Shipping Company consists of 20 tankers and the total deadweight of the fleet is close to one million DWT and the average age is below five years.

Additional information:
Elīna Dobulāne
Press secretary
Latvian Shipping Company
Phone: +371 25959447
E-mail : elina.dobulane@lscgroup.lv