Election of Loukas Pilitsis and Fritz Heidenreich will bring additional finance and IT expertise.

VALETTA, MALTA, 25 October 2010: essDOCS, the leading provider of electronic shipping documents, is pleased to announce two appointments to strengthen the team of industry experts which have helped guide its development.

Mr Loukas Pilitsis of Piraeus Bank joins the essDOCS Board of Directors and Mr Fritz Heidenreich of Heidenreich Innovations joins the essDOCS Advisory Board.

Mr Pilitsis is the head of venture capital and private equity for Piraeus Bank, chief executive officer of the board of directors of Piraeus Equity Partners, and chief executive officer of Piraeus Equity Advisors. Piraeus Bank is one of the top Greek financial services institutions, with strong presence in Central and Southern Europe, as well as a presence in the US and London. Mr Pilitsis previously held senior positions in State Street Corporation, culminating in his role as European Chief Administrative Officer of the European Executive Board.

Mr Pilitsis holds a law degree from Athens University Law School, an LLM from Boston University Law School and an MSF from Boston College. He is a graduate of the Executive Development Program from the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Fritz Heidenreich is acknowledged as being among the most original thinkers in maritime software development. Previously Chief Information Officer at Heidmar, Mr  Heidenreich is best-known for the Q88.com web site, a product he successfully developed at a time when many in the industry were spending vast sums in pursuit of complex e-commerce solutions.

Heidenreich Innovations, headquartered in Greenwich Connecticut, launched the website Q88.com in 2001 and currently has over 470 shipowners, managers and operators managing their fleets daily on the system.  Q88.com also hosts the highly acclaimed Terminal Vetting Database which includes feedback from vessels about their visits to terminals around the world. More recently, Heidenreich Innovations has developed the Baltic99 dry bulk questionnaire and also offers the Milbros Chemical Information System database for chemical tanker owners. Mr Heidenreich is a graduate in Aerospace Engineer from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Alex Goulandris, Chief Executive Officer of essDOCS, said:

“We are delighted that Loukas and Fritz are joining the essDOCS team. Both bring a strong track record of achievement and innovation as well as blue-chip experience in their respective fields. essDOCS has always sought to draw on the expertise of individuals from within the shipping and trade arenas. I’m confident essDOCS will benefit from their input and advice as well as from their network of high-level industry contacts.”

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