In 1991, when Lithuania regained independence, the Klaipeda State Transport Fleet was registered. Later, in 1993, the 20% of state capital was privatized by the employees and in 1995 the enterprise registered its name as Klaipeda Transport Fleet Ltd.

In 1991 the firm had transport reefers, salvage tugs and tankers -- 25 vessels all in all, or the majority of the market. The collapse of the USSR also meant the collapse of the market for our specialized fleet. The Lithuanian fishing fleet became bankrupt in a year. The management of the company faced a serious question -- how to survive. It was necessary to find new markets and new partners on the world market, to find the means to carry out repairs to the fleet and to continue operations. Fortunately, we were able to establish ourselves rather quickly and securely by shipping squid from the South Atlantic to the Far East, on the traditional shipping line carrying fish from Africa, Egypt and South America and also on the fast-growing market carrying meat from the USA to Russia. During the 10 years of existence our vessels have shipped almost 5,000,000 tons of cargo. Highly qualified personnel, the ability of the management to solve all problems that arise quickly and the good technical condition of the ships have resulted in growing confidence on the part of foreign partners.

For many years we have had a good relationship with Lavinia Corporation -- one of the biggest owners and operators of reefer vessels. The majority of big vessels work via the Hamburg-based broker companies Frigoship Chartering an Alpha Reefer Transport. Klaipeda Transport Fleet is a member of BIMCO, which means reliability and good service. All the biggest shipping companies are members of this organization. The firm's ships are insured by the famous insurance company P+I.

The company managers are also membes of the Board of Directors. The head of the Board and President of the company is Mr Arseniy Bich. Almost all of the Board members have worked at sea for many years, so their competence guarantees an understanding of any situation.

Klaipeda Transport Fleet owns 16 ships. The company has almost a thousand employees. The main languages used on the ships are English, Lithuanian and Russian.

The most burning need is to renew the fleet and find financing for this. We can not count on government subsidies and must find financing ourselves. During the last 2 years the company has purchased 12 second-hand reefers of various sizes, using the profit from scrap and sales of old vessels. These ships are 10-15 yeas old, but have replaced ships 25-30 years old.

Board members (left to right):
Mr Vaclov Stankevich, Vice-President -- operation of vessels, Mrs Janina Armaliene, adviser -- Secretary of the Board, Mrs Galina Jegorova, Chief Accountant, Mr Arseniy Bich President and Mr Vladimir Proshkov Vice President -- technical management.

Mr Arseniy Bich, the president of the company.