The executives of DryShips (NASDAQ: DRYS) - George Economou, Excel Maritime Carriers (NYSE: EXM) - Christopher Georgakis, FreeSeas (NASDAQ: FREE) - George D. Gourdomichalis and Quintana Maritime (NASDAQ: QMAR) - Stamatis Molaris will participate in a conference call to discuss the developments, prospects and outlook of the dry bulk sector. The discussion will be moderated by Charlotte Crosswell, Head of NASDAQ International, and Isabella Schidrich, Director for W. Europe, NASDAQ International. At the end of the virtual roundtable discussion, investors will be able to submit their own questions to the participating CEOs. The whole event is expected to last for about one hour.

The conference call and roundtable discussion will take place on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 10:30 a.m. EST.

The CEO Virtual Forum is organized by Capital Link, an international investor relations firm focusing on the shipping sector, in cooperation with NASDAQ.