PERSONNEL

Louis B. Kravitz, EKKO's founder and chairman, has over 25 years experience in all aspects of dry cargo chartering, initially serving with Neris Shipping (1970-1972) and Peraco Chartering (1972-1976). Two years in Denmark with Bidsted, Copenhagen (1977-1978) saw him establish what has become the most successful bulk carrier chartering office in Denmark. Kravitz returned to New York where he spent two years with VJC Chartering prior to founding EKKO. He recently opened a new office, Novo Verde Corp., in Westcliffe, Colorado, and remains active in the shipping business.

Karen Turner Kurtul, president and chartering manager, started in shipping in 1980 in the operations department of Grundstad Maritime Corp., Boca Raton, Florida, owners of six product tankers trading world wide, and of cruise vessels operating within the Caribbean. In 1985, she became the company's vice president of operations and during that time also became involved in chartering activities. Ms. Turner joined EKKO in 1987 as operations manager and in 1988 moved to chartering. She currently has complete responsibility for two major accounts as well as supervisory duties over chartering and operations. In 1992, Ms. Turner became a partner in the company.

James Russell-Walling began his maritime career by entering the Merchant Navy in 1977, serving as midshipman/cadet and navigating officer with Safmarine and Ellerman City Liners. After gaining a BSc (Hons) in Nautical Science at the University of Plymouth, England, he joined Koch Shipping in 1985. In 1988, he was relocated from London to Koch’s head office in Wichita, Kansas, where he ran Koch Carbon’s Dry Bulk Freight book until 2000. Wanting to become more involved in third-party freight trading (as opposed to a service function), he joined ConAgra Trade Group, Omaha in 2000. In November 2001, under the ConAgra umbrella, he founded Matador Shipping & Trading, serving as its managing director until June 2004 when he joined Paragon Lines as a partner. His mandate is to grow Paragon Lines through strategic relationships to become an operator of choice, particularly within the minerals sector of the Dry Bulk market.