GAC forms alliance with Norway's oldest shipping agency

The GAC-ORO alliance brings together GAC's global connections and best
practices with ORO's 161 years of maritime experience in Norway and the
country's oil exploration industries in the North Sea.  Established in
Bergen, Norway in 1845, ORO is the oldest Norwegian shipping agency. Its
headquarters are in Mongstad, home to the country's biggest oil, gas and
product terminal. 

Thanks to the alliance, principals with vessels heading for Norwegian
ports and those serving oil platforms in the North Sea will now be able to
take advantage of ORO's in-depth local knowledge, in tandem with the
benefits of the GAC Group's global connections.

Lars Peter Hiesselberg, GAC's Group Vice President, Shipping Services,
believes the GAC-ORO collaboration will help improve vessel turnaround
time and enhance cost savings for operators in Norway and beyond.

"We will achieve this by taking full advantage of the combination of ORO's
strong Norwegian and North Sea expertise and GAC's global strength in ship
agency and offshore support services. Together, we will provide a seamless
service to meet the increasing demands of shipping principals," he adds.

Frank H. Toftesund, ORO's President says his company is proud to be
associated with GAC.

"We shall combine our strengths with those of the GAC Group to benefit not
only ships calling at Norwegian ports, but also Norwegian vessels sailing
to ports around the world," he says.

Over the years, ORO has continuously expanded its portfolio to further
enhance its services to the shipping community. Its traditional core
business was providing shipping services to North Sea liner vessels and
coasters carrying dry cargo. Since 1988, it extended its offerings to
include liquid cargoes as well as support at all Norwegian oil and gas
terminals.

Today, ORO handles over 1,000 port calls of crude oil, LPG, product and
methanol vessels every year. It also provides services for vessel lay-ups;
broad ship agency cover extending from the Norwegian ports of Kirkenes in
the North, to Kristiandsand in the South, and Oslo in the east; 24-hour
ship agency support; and ISO 9001:2000 quality assured services.

GLOBAL NETWORK
Over the last three years, GAC has rapidly expanded its global network of
agents as part of its vision to become a fully integrated worldwide
service provider with in-depth local expertise.

The company's global network agents today include Aarus (Spain), OBC
Shipping (United Kingdom), Oceania Maritime Services (Australia, New
Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific islands), Unipros
(Republic of Korea), Kudrat Maritime (Malaysia), Wilford & McKay (Panama),
Vensport (Venezuela), Ultramar Network (Argentina, Chile, Peru and
Uruguay), Wilson & Sons (Brazil) and Seaforth (East Africa). Rice, Unruh,
Reynolds & Co (US East and Gulf Coast), once a member of the global agency
network, was acquired by GAC 1 February 2005.

GAC is the world's leading provider of global Shipping, Logistics and
Marine services.

For more information, go to www.gacworld.com.