The vessels, which are specially developed for the Baltic trade, will be ready for the ice season 2005. Stena Arctica and Stena Antarctica will primarily transport the increasing volumes of Russian oil exported from the Baltic. In 2006 the annual carrying capacity from Primorsk will be about 10 million mt of crude oil. The value of the agreed contracts exceeds SEK 3 billion (USD 400 million).

As an early start to the cooperation, Progetra and Stena have concluded a three-year employment contract for the ice-classed, double hull, 114,000 dwt Stena Contender. During this contract Stena Bulk's subsidiary StenTex UK Ltd will commercially manage the vessel. This vessel was delivered from the yard in Korea in December 2003 and lifted her first cargo from Primorsk on 1 February 2004. During the coming months Stena Contender will carry crude oil sold by Sibneft on basis of consecutive voyages.

Mr Andrej Chirikow, the Chief Director of Sibneft Oil and Trade Company, the trading arm of AO Siberian Oil comments the deal: "Our goal is to offer our clients the crude oil round the year in a safe, punctual and economical way. We fully share Stena's statement; Oil should always travel first class!"

For Progetra and their clients these vessels are an integral part of a long-term strategy to secure environmental sound and economically efficient vessels to meet the demand of the increasing Russian oil export from the Baltic round the year.

In January 2002 one of the Russian oil majors employed a Finnish based consulting and brokerage company to develop and implement a strategically sound and economically efficient concept for the transportation of crude oil from Russian ports in the Baltic. Already in March 2002 Stena Bulk was selected as the partner for the project and since then the project has been developed in close cooperation with Stena Bulk's offices in Gothenburg, Moscow and London (StenTex UK Ltd). Stena Bulk was selected to deliver the new tonnage needed for the Primorsk trade due to the strengths of the Stena Group organisations - its unique know-how in developing new designs, its close and deep contact with the global chartering markets, and its focus on the Russian oil market with the newly established Moscow office.

The new vessels are specially designed for the Baltic trading and the design is the result of close cooperation between Stena and the builder Hyundai Heavy Industries. Stena has also performed extensive ice-testing and simulations for the new design.

For winter trading the vessels are built to a very high ice-class according to the latest Finnish/Swedish rules, which means that the new vessels can safely operate in ice up to 1 metre thick. For navigation in confined waters and close to other vessels, the bridges will have a 360-degree view and are supplied with Stena's integrated bridge design that is standard on Stena's MAX-concept vessels.

To protect the environment, the vessels will have full double hull. No tank containing cargo, bunker fuel oil, lubricating oil or contaminated water is in contact with the outer hull. The main engines will have a high degree of redundancy, with back-up systems preventing a single system fault from shutting down the vessels' machinery. The vessels will satisfy the latest UPS class rules (Uninterrupted Power Supply) with back-up systems for navigation as well as control systems for the engine rooms.

Ulf G. Ryder, President and CEO of Stena Bulk comments: "For Stena Bulk this is a part of our effort to introduce the next generation of tonnage especially designed for the needs of the Baltic Sea. It is also an important part of our long-term commitment to service the Russian market with competitive and environmental sound tonnage. Our new tonnage is always developed in close cooperation with our partners."

Progetra S.A is a fast growing company working closely with most of the Russian oil exporters. Progetra is operating oil terminals in various Russian ports, has about 1,800 railway cars for the domestic transportation of oil inland Russia and is active in the trading business of Russian oil. Last year Protegra's turnover was in excess of USD 1 billion.

Stena Bulk operates 55 vessels with a total deadweight of 5 million tonnes and is active in the international tanker and bulk-carrier markets. Stena Bulk has offices in Gothenburg, London, New York, Houston, Singapore and Moscow.

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