Dr Helmut Sohmen joined the World-Wide Shipping Group in Hong Kong in 1970, after serving as Legal Adviser for The Royal Bank of Canada in Montreal. He took over as chairman of the World-Wide Group in 1986 and also became chairman, respectively, of N&T Argonaut in Sweden and Bergesen d.y. ASA in Norway when these two companies were acquired in 2001 and 2003. Dr Sohmen is now chairman of BW Group Limited, Bermuda, which controls his family's major shipping and offshore services businesses.

Among many other corporate assignments, Dr Sohmen was previously chairman of the International Maritime Industries Forum and of the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (both London), President of the Baltic and International Maritime Council (Copenhagen), chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, and International Chairman of the Pacific Basin Economic Council. From 1984 to 2007 he was a non-executive Director of HSBC Holdings plc.

Sir William Purves has served on our Board of Directors since since the Company's incorporation and since 1998 as a director of World Shipping And Investment Company Limited, part of the World-Wide Shipping Group. Sir William was Chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation between 1986 and 1993, and Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc between 1990 and 1998. In addition, he was Chairman of The British Bank of the Middle East between 1979 and 1998 and Chairman of Midland Bank plc between 1993 and 1998. He is currently a non-executive director of Aquarius Platinum Limited and a number of private companies, having been a non-executive director of Shell Transport & Trading plc between 1993 and 2002 and Alstom SA between 1998 and 2003.

Mr Amaury de Seze joined the Board of Directors in December 2007. He has been Vice-Chairman of the Board of Power Corporation of Canada since 2008, Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Carrefour since 2006 and is on the board of Publicis, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert and Pargesa, amongst others.

Mr de Seze was previously on the Group Executive Committee of AB Volvo (1978 - 1993), the Management Board of Compagnie Financière and Bank Paribas (1993 – 1998), the Group Executive Committee of BNP Paribas (1998 – 2003), and Chairman and CEO of PAI partners (1993 – 2007).