09 July 2003

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MEDMAR - TRAGHETTI POZZUOLI AND RODRIQUEZ CANTIERI NAVALI SIGN AGREEMENT TO BUILD FOUR "TRF 82" UNITS

The new Ro-Ros will go into service between 2004 and 2005, a significant contribution to development of the highways of the sea

Rodriquez Cantieri Navali will build four new “TRF 82” Ro-Ro ships for Medmar S.p.A. and its affiliate Traghetti Pozzuoli S.p.A. within the 2004-5 two-year period.
The order, having a total value of Euro 60 mln, will enlarge and renovate the fleet of the group under the d’Abundo family, confirming its leadership on the routes to and from the Island of Ischia and further consolidate the value that the Rodriquez Cantieri Navali trademark boasts internationally as a builder of trade vessels in Italy.

The four ferries belong to the TRF Rodriquez line. Built entirely of steel with a length of 82 metres, they will each transport 900 passengers and 140 motor vehicles, reaching the speed of 18 knots. Delivery of the first vessel is scheduled for 2004, whereas the other three will be delivered in the summer of 2005.

The agreement, which was concluded symbolically right after the Council of Ministries of Transportation of the European Union summit came to a close in Naples, was signed by Sole Director of Medmar S.p.A. and Chairman of Traghetti Pozzuoli S.p.A. Nicola d’Abundo and by Chairman of Rodriquez Cantieri Navali Antonino Parisi, who attended the ceremony.

Overcoming strong competition, Rodriquez Cantieri Navali was given an order that will tie up its Pietra Ligure shipyards over the next 24 months in the building of the hulls and the Messina shipyards for their completion. It is an award won due to its diversification strategy and continuous investments in research and development, which allow Rodriquez Cantieri Navali to anticipate and meet the various needs of the market.

With the addition of the new vessels to the fleet, Medmar and Traghetti Pozzuoli will be able to further increase the service that in 2002 absorbed about 75% of the entire transportation demand of passengers with motor vehicles going to and from the Island of Ischia, with almost 2 mln passengers and more than 410,000 vehicles transported from Naples and from Pozzuoli.

“With this contract and the consequent marked renovation of the fleet, our group intends to reassert its presence on the local and international sea market and at the same time consolidate these historic Neapolitan shipping companies,” stated d’Abundo. “For this reason we selected a shipyard just as historic and reliable like Rodriquez, both because of its strong technological connotation and its capacities of flexibility and competitiveness that it has already demonstrated to us.”

“Following the many contracts we have signed with shipping companies all over the world, we are particularly satisfied and proud of this new agreement with a Neapolitan company because it allows us to reaffirm the value that our production has acquired internationally in Italy as well - and even more so in Campania, the region where we work with the Conam shipyards, and this attests to our leadership in the building of commercial sea vessels.”

RODRIQUEZ CANTIERI NAVALI S.p.A. is one of the largest international shipyards, able to diversify production distinguished by solutions using highly advanced technology. Rodriquez designs and builds ships 14 to 150 metres long in fibreglass, aluminium, carbon and steel in the commercial, military, pleasure craft and megayachts sectors. Rodriquez Cantieri Navali S.p.A. controls Intermarine, Conam, Rodriquez Engineering, Rodriquez Yachts, Rodriquez Marine System, Rodriquez Logtec, Rodriquez Infrastrutture, Rodriquez Cantieri Navali do Brasil, Rodriquez Hellas and Rodriquez Mexico.

THE MEDMAR GROUP
It currently comprises four shipping companies: Medmar SpA, Linee Lauro SpA, Traghetti Pozzuoli S.p.A. and Pozzuoli Ferries s.r.l.

MEDMAR S.p.A. will take over the company Linee Lauro S.p.A., which in turn was pioneer of modern connections by sea in the Gulf of Naples almost fifty years ago.
It operates with ferry ships from Naples to the Island of Ischia and the major Mediterranean islands (Sardinia and Sicily) and on international routes (Corsica, Tunisia and the Balearic Islands).
With eight pair of daily runs between Molo Beverello and Ischia Port, it transports 80,000 motor vehicles and 630,000 passengers annually.
The MEDMAR Fleet is currently made up of six ferry ships – three medium-sized for the international lines and three that are smaller for the connections to and from the Island of Ischia. One of the four new ferries will strengthen the Naples to Ischia and back connections.

TRAGHETTI POZZUOLI S.p.A., which links the Island of Ischia to the Pozzuoli port of call.
It boast a fleet of eight ships, and with 14 pair of daily runs to Ischia Porto and Casamicciola (which increase to 18-19 during the high season, compared to the three daily runs of the public service), it almost totally meets the demand for transportation of passengers, motor vehicles and goods between Pozzuoli and the Island of Ischia.
The volume transported each year exceeds 330,000 motor vehicles, with 1.3 mln passengers.
Three of the four new ferries will strengthen the services of this company.

POZZUOLI FERRIES s.r.l., which also belongs to the “Medmar Group”, carries out all “special transports” of dangerous goods, fuelling and R.S.U. disposal to and from the Island of Ischia with specially fitted ships