Ken:  I reviewed the letter from Mr. S. Huey Long that you forwarded to me regard= ing his suggestion that you discuss with Mr. Ravi N. Tikoo the Dabhol situa= tion and more specifically the Lakshmi LNG carrier and in return agree to l= et him bid on future LNG carrier chartering or financing business.
As you = probably recall, we are a minority investor in the Lakshmi, with Mitsui OSK=  Lines the majority investor and operator of the vessel.
We are not really=  in a position to control decision making with respect tot he vessel and ar= e currently maneuvering to get Mitsui to buy out our position.
Accordingly= , I do not think there is anything productive to be gained from Mr. Tikoo w= ith respect to the Lakshmi.
As to whether he can help more generally with = respect to India, I defer to your judgement.
I think we are already well c= onnected and engaging any additional intermediaries carries more risk in te= rms of confusion, mixed messages or inappropriate behavior from a FCPA pers= pective.
If you would like I can have our LNG group respond with a polite = letter informing him that we are not currently considering any additional L= NG carriers, but that we would be happy to allow him to arrange a meeting a= t such time in the future as we have shipping needs.
Jim

Shipping Financial Services Corp.