Mittal Steel Co. has disposed of its bareboat charter interests in two lake vessels that provide raw materials to its steel works in Burns Harbor, Ind. The vessels were chartered by International Steel Group, which Mittal Steel Co. acquired on April 15.

Ownership of M/V Burns Harbor has been transferred to American Steamship Co. from a vessel trust. The 1,000 foot long vessel can hold more than 72,000 tons of bulk cargo, water levels permitting. A trust had operated the vessel through an agreement with a financial institution.

ISG operated the M/V Stewart J. Cort under a bareboat charter agreement, which now has been assigned to a subsidiary of The Interlake Steamship Co. The 1,000 foot long Cort has capacity for more than 58,000 tons of bulk cargo in its hold. A consortium of financial institutions owns the vessel.

Mittal Steel also has entered into long-term agreements with American Steamship Co. and a subsidiary of Interlake Steamship Co. to time-charter the Burns Harbor and the Cort for the transport of iron ore on the Great Lakes.

The U.S. Maritime Administration has confirmed that such arrangements are in accordance with the statutes and regulations administered by the agency.

Mittal Steel Co. is the world's largest and most global steel company. The company has operations in 14 countries, on four continents. Mittal Steel encompasses all aspects of modern steelmaking, to produce a comprehensive portfolio of both flat and long steel products to meet a wide range of customer needs. It serves all the major steel-consuming sectors, including automotive, appliance, machinery and construction. For 2004, Mittal Steel had revenues of US$22.2 billion and steel shipments of 42.1 million tons.