FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fort Lauderdale, FL, January 18, 1999 – HVIDE Marine Incorporated (NASDAQ: HMAR) today announced the upcoming christening of the HMI Ambrose Channel, the first all-new petro-chemical carrier built in the United States in nearly two decades and the fourth in a series of five double-hull lightship tankers being built for HVIDE by Newport News Shipbuilding under the Double Eagle program. The christening ceremony will take place on Friday, January 22 at Newport News Shipbuilding (NYSE: NNS) in Newport News, Virginia.

The vessel’s sponsor is The Honorable Katherine Harris, Secretary of State of the State of Florida, who will wish the vessel and her crew smooth seas and fair winds. Also taking part in the ceremony are Mitchell D. Lax, Director of the Office of Ship Financing, U.S. Maritime Administration, and Captain John E. Schrinner, U.S.C.G., Commander of the Office of Marine Safety and Environmental Protection, District 5, based in Norfolk.

"This vessel responds to the mandate of Congress and the American people to build double-hull tankships that will transport petroleum and chemical products in U. S. waters in the safest manner possible," commented J. Erik Hvide, Chairman, President and

CEO. "She is U.S.-built in one of the finest shipyards in the world, U.S.-crewed and U.S.-flagged, and her entry into the Jones Act market marks another step forward in the evolution of environmentally friendly marine transportation."

Named after the Coast Guard lightship which formerly stood watch at the entrance to New York Harbor, the HMI Ambrose Channel is jointly owned by wholly owned subsidiaries of Hvide and Newport News. She will be operated by Hvide Marine and marketed through Hvide’s Ocean Specialty Tankers Corporation subsidiary in Houston, Texas. Unlike her three predecessors, which are crude oil and petroleum product carriers, the HMI Ambrose Channel is a certified IMO Type III Chemical Carrier capable of carrying a wide variety of chemical products in 14 specially coated tanks. A fifth and final tanker of the Double Eagle class, the HMI Brenton Reef, will be delivered in mid-1999 and will also be a Type III Chemical Carrier.

Under the terms of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, better known as OPA 90, all single-hull petroleum tank vessels must be phased out by 2015. Hvide Marine currently operates a fleet of five chemical and six petroleum product carriers in the Jones Act trade, three of which are double-hulled and thus have no retirement date under OPA 90. These vessels transit U.S. coastal waters and deliver products such as caustic soda, phosphoric acid, gasoline and jet fuel to ports along the Gulf, Atlantic and Pacific Coasts.

With a growing fleet of 283 vessels, Hvide Marine (pronounced "VEE-dah") is one of the world’s leading providers of marine support and transportation services, primarily to the energy and chemical industries. Visit Hvide Marine on the Web at www.hvide.com.

Newport News Shipbuilding designs and constructs nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines for the U. S. Navy and provides life-cycle maintenance services for ships in the Navy fleet. The company employs 18,000 people and has annual revenues of approximately $1.8 billion. Visit NNS on the Web at www.nns.com.

NNS photo by Mike Dillard

HMI Ambrose Channel - Sea Trial

SPECIFICATIONS – HMI Ambrose Channel

Length - 619’-09"

Beam - 105’-08"

Deadweight/Draft - 45,300 LT @ 40’-01" (est.)

Speed - 16.0 Knots - 16.0 Knots

Cargo Capacity - 341,459 Gross BBLs - 341,459 Gross BBLs

Tanks/Grades - 7 pairs of tanks port and starboard (14 segregations using two-valve separation) - 7 pairs of tanks port and starboard (14 segregations using two-valve separation)