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Non-Tech : Hvide Marine HMAR - High Growth, Undervalued -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BD who wrote (525)	9/10/1999 1:02:00 PM
From: Lee Lindquist	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 547

PCQuote has a quote on HMARQ (which is not yet trading) pcquote.com

To: BD who wrote (525)	10/10/1999 12:24:00 PM
From: SargeK	Respond to of 547

HMARQ Hvide Debate Continues (A MUST READ FOR INTERESTED PARTIES) The following information obtained from a YAHOO poster – Which was posted in four parts. Part I: messages.yahoo.com Lettter to Mr. Fitzgerald by: dykstra99 2935 of 2959 Related Links I just faxed following letter with copies to SEC and to the Bankruptcy judge. (see addresses at the end of the letter). I would invite every shareholder to do the same. Anybody with "inside information" should step up to the plate now.There are only a few weeks left. So far he judge is our only hope, unless a good lawyer is willing to start a class action suit. It looks like this could be a lucrative case. My e-mail address: dykstra@hal-pc.org (I am not a lawyer) Don Dykstra Houston, 7 October 1999 HVIDE MARINE INC. 2200 Eller Drive Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 Subject: Shareholders Attn: Mr. Jean Fitzgerald, Chmn/Pres/CEO fax: 954-527-1772 Dear Mr. Fitzgerald: As owner of an ocean transportation company, I have followed the ups and downs of the offshore support industry in general and Hvide Marine Inc. in particular. I have known about your company since the mid 1970's, when I was employed with Shell Oil Co. as a financial analyst and met with Mr. Eric Hvide. This was at the time Shell took Hvide's revolutionary tug-barge combination "Seabulk Challenger" on time-charter. During the last few months I have accumulated 50,000 HMAR shares and have followed the stock quotes and various reports with great interest. With a bookvalue of $13,89/share as of 6/30/99 and still at $ 10.83/share on 9/8/99 when the company filed for ch. 11, it seemed a "can't loose proposition". I had full faith in the stock climbing back up, till I saw a copy of Hvide's 10/4/99 Reorganization Plan. I still have trouble believing what I read and would like to ask you the following questions and make some unsolicited observations and suggestions. With ref. to the balance sheet as of 6/30/99, it appears that the unsecured bondholders held $343.6 mil. in debt and the convertible preferred bondholders held $ 135.9 mil. for a total of $479.5 mil. Stockholder's Equity (SE) at that time was listed as $ 215.8 mil. $479.5 + $ 215.8 mil. = $ 695.3 mil. This means that SE of $ 215.8 is 31% of $ 695.3 mil. (I assume that under the Reorganization Plan bank loans are to be renegotiated and Suppliers are to be paid from current income) Question 1: How is it possible that the share holders are allotted only 1.25% instead of 31% ? Question 2: How did you arrive at 1.25% for the shareholders Isn't this "Mafia"accounting ? Question 3: How is it possible that unsecured bond holders stand to receive 9.8 mil x $38.49/ new share for a total of $ 377.2 mil., while the face value of their bonds is only $ 300 mil. ? Question 4: Isn't his illegal under the Bankruptcy code, giving one party more than is due ? Question 5: If according to your figures SE is at least $ 10.83/shares with the offshore market boat rates (and thus the value of the underlying assets) going up, how come current market value dropped below $ .20/share a few days ago ? Posted: 10/7/1999 4:49 pm EDT as a reply to: Msg 2894 by full_chat

To: BD who wrote (525)	10/10/1999 12:38:00 PM
From: SargeK	Respond to of 547

PART II messages.yahoo.com Letter to Mr. Fitzgerald, part 2 by: dykstra99 2936 of 2959 I understand that the unsecured bonds were underwritten or have been sold with the help of Wall Street financial advisors Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette (DLJ). Question 6: Is DLJ advising you to pay unsecured bondholders more than they are due and are they telling you to reduce common shareholder's stake to almost nothing ? I am sure your firm may feel some allegiance to DLJ, but I would not worry too much about them. As soon as there are fat fees to be made, they'll be back in a flash; backslapping and all. According to the latest Lazard Freres list of High Yield (junk) Shipping Bonds, the 8.375% 2008 Hvide bonds sell currently at $ 40 for every $ 100 face value. Question 7: If these unsecured bonds are only worth $ 120 mil. in total, why would you want to pay them $ 377.2 ? I think you should offer the junk bond holders no more than $ 120 mil plus perhaps stock options for new shares. It is my understanding that this is the way other shipping junk bond holders are treated. Under your Reorganization Plan anybody who is bought these bonds recently will get back more than $ 120 for every $ 40 invested. Absurd isn't it ? Question 8: Are any of the so-called "insiders" (see below) holders of these bonds ? As far as the junk bond holders are concerned, they win some, they loose some, just like venture capitalists. On average they do ok. Don't feel you have to keep them from the poor house. Hvide's first allegiance is to its employees and retirees who have suffered catastrophic stock losses due to management's ill informed decisions. You also owe allegiance to current and future share holders. Above two groups of people will be crucial for the survival of the company; not fast talking Wall Street types and not "vulture" capitalists. Remember: "Figures lie, liars figure". If you shaft current shareholders, I predict Hvide etc. will fold within a year and we would all be much better off if the company was liquidated right now. Even if liquidated though, you will still be battling shareholder's lawsuit for years to come. Moreover, if there is suspicion of witholding information, or squireling away company assets, officers and directors may personally have to answer to these suits. As a side note, judging by the Lazard Freres List of Junk Bonds for Shipping, most shipping companies have not done well and quite a few have defaulted on their bonds. Easy financing is kind of like giving a drink to an alcoholic. Various reports state that "insiders" (supposedly original founders + family + friends + perhaps management) own 6.95 mil shares out of a total 13 mil (non-voting) A shares plus about 2.5 mil. (voting) B shares for a total of 15.5 mil shares. This means "insiders" own 45% of SE. Question 9: Why would "insiders" agree to take only 1.25% instead of 45% ? I smell a rat here. I am afraid that the way you plan to treat stockholders Hvide will wind up in the Guinness Book of Records under the category: Largest Shareholders rip-off.

To: BD who wrote (525)	10/10/1999 12:41:00 PM
From: SargeK	Respond to of 547

PART III messages.yahoo.com Letter to Mr. Fitzgerald, part 3 by: dykstra99 2938 of 2959 Based on the results of other related shipping/offshore support companies that have seen their stocks double or triple in the last six months, I would not be surprised if Hvide turned into the black during the 1st. Q of 2000, but only with motivated employees. Furthermore, at some future date management may want to hit the road again to raise new equity. Question 10: Will anybody with an ounce of common sense ever trust your company again if you abuse current share holders ? Apparently a lot of employees and retirees were encouraged to buy Hvide stock. Question 11: How do you plan to continue operations with disgruntled employees; especially with so many people in very responsible positions on board your ships ? Question 12: By shafting them now, aren't you worried that your company may encounter a number of unexplained "mishaps" in the future ? For the 1st six months of 1999 you list at total of about $ 17 mil in tax credits. Based on the loss trend there may be a tax credit of perhaps $ 50 mil. for all of 1999, or more than $3.00/share. Question 13: Wouldn't everybody be much better off if the company was forced into involuntary liquidation ? Based on your own numbers a new owner would not only get about $ 100 mil in assets free and clear, but also a $ 50 mil. tax credit. This would amount to about $ 10/share for current shareholders. Much better than what you are offering us now. Something else. Based on current stock price of about $ .25, the company's capitalization is slightly less than $ 4 mil. This means that right now your company with about 280 vessels can be bought for about $ 4 mil. Again, pretty bizarre. Question 14: What defenses do you have in place against somebody "stealing" the company for next to nothing ? I realize that original owners have control of the voting B stocks, but as you know if somebody holds all the assets, it is just a matter of spending time in the courts to overturn voting rights. The same just happened to Frontline from Stockholm, who had bought up most ICB shares. The whole thing is so strange that I do have to ask you the painful question 16: Has your company knowingly or unknowingly ever been involved or been blackmailed by organized crime or drug cartel organizations in South Florida, or elsewhere ? Question 17: Are you aware of any "sweetheart deals", whereby one group of stakeholders in your company stands to benefit at the expense of others ?

To: BD who wrote (525)	10/10/1999 12:51:00 PM
From: SargeK	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 547

PART IV messages.yahoo.com Letter to Mr. Fitzgerald, part 4 (end) by: dykstra99 2939 of 2959 As you can see, there are a lot of questions, but I am not sure if the institutional investors will put up a fight against your 10/4/99 Reorganization Plan, because there may not be any left. Reports show that institutions owned only 13% of common shares, vs. average institutional ownership of Water Transportation Industry of 51.7% and the average institutional ownership of the S&P 500 as a whole of 63.7%. These percentages are probably as of 6/30/98. After Hvide's filing of ch. 11 on 9/8/99 it appears there was a flood of institutional sellers, so the 13% may be much lower today. By copy of this letter, I ask the SEC Enforcement Complaint Center to study this matter. We also invite the Honorable Delaware Bankruptcy Judge Mr. Peter J. Walsh to take a good look at Hvide's 10/4/99 ill conceived Reorganization Plan and to protect current shareholders. As you can see Mr. Fitzgerald there are a lot of unanswered questions, especially since there has not been a shareholders meeting for a while. As the man in the hot seat, I am sure you can answer a lot of them. I -and perhaps a lot of other shareholders- look forward to an open dialog. If you are not brave enough yet to face a mob of angry shareholders, perhaps you can post answers to my 17 questions on your web site. As you know, the Shipping Industry has long been under a cloud of suspicion because with low freight rates and high expenses, our business seems to attract more that our share of shysters and crooks. I would therefore very much appreciate if you can remove some of the uncertainties and misconceptions about Hvide.Your truthful explanation of the situation will sure benefit us all. Thank you for your consideration ! kind regards, Don Dykstra, mgn. dir. cc: The Honorable Delaware Bankruptcy Judge Mr. Peter J. Walsh 824 Market Street, Wilmington, DE 19801, clerk's phone: 302-573-6174 case nos: 99-03024/25/26/27/30/32/33 SEC Div. of Enforcement Complaint Center, Mailstop 2-2, 450 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20549-0202, Phone: 1-800-SEC-0330, Fax: 202-942-9570 Trade Winds PO Box 1182, 0107 Oslo, Norway. Phone: 011-47-2200-1200, fax: 011-47-2200- 1260, e-mail: letters@tw.nhst.no. Yahoo Hvide Bulletin Board Posted: 10/7/1999 5:49 pm EDT as a reply to: Msg 2929 by SargeK " COMMENT: I have posted this on SI to provide a more permanent record of events surrounding the HVIDE Bankruptcy and proposed reorganization. The “proposed” plan can be found @: hvide.com I will not always respond to comments and requests for information. I will post information as it becomes available. For current quotes goto: quicken.com For further discussion/ratings goto: quicken.com It appears further lawsuits will be filed . What effect this may or may not have on the Bankruptcy Court Is unknown. I am in agreement with comments and actions taken by dykstra99…… Good luck SargeK NOTE: My own financial interest in this issue is not substantial.