Exhibit 99.3

Stolt Offshore S.A.                                            [Graphic Omitted]

A subsidiary of        C/o Stolt Offshore M.S. Limited     Tel: + 44 1932 773700
Stolt-Nielsen S.A.     Dolphin House                       Fax: + 44 1932 773701
                       Windmill Road                       www.stoltoffshore.com
                       Sunbury-on-Thames
                       Middlesex,  TW16 7HT
                       England


NEWS RELEASE

                                    Contact:    Julian Thomson
                                                US  +1 877 603 0267 (toll free)
                                                UK  +44 1224 718436
                                                julian.thomson@stoltoffshore.com


                          STOLT OFFSHORE S.A. ANNOUNCES
                     APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

London,  England - February 24, 2003 - Stolt Offshore S.A.  (Nasdaq:  SOSA; Oslo
Stock  Exchange:  STO) today announced that Mr Stuart Jackson had been appointed
as Chief Financial Officer. He will start with the Company on April 22, 2003.

Stuart  Jackson  is a graduate  Chartered  Management  Accountant  with 19 years
energy  sector  experience  including 11 years in the oil and gas  industry.  He
joined  Marathon Oil in London in 1983 as a financial  analyst  before moving to
LASMO in 1985 where he held various  financial  management  positions in London,
the Far East and North Africa.  In 1995 he joined Humber Power,  an  independent
power generation  company, as Commercial and Finance Director and Deputy General
Manager for operations in London and Lincolnshire. In 2000 he joined NRG Energy,
a NYSE listed power generation company, as Executive Director,  Asset Management
and Trading. He was appointed Executive Director,  Business  Development in 2001
and Vice President and Managing Director in 2002.

Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen,  Interim Chief Executive Officer of Stolt Offshore said,
"Stuart Jackson has wide international  experience  including corporate finance,
treasury,   project   management,   project  control,   investor  relations  and
information  technology.  I am very  pleased to welcome  him to the  position of
Chief Financial Officer."

Stolt  Offshore is a leading  offshore  contractor  to the oil and gas industry,
specialising in technologically  sophisticated  deepwater engineering,  flowline
and pipeline lay, construction, inspection and maintenance services. The Company
operates  in  Europe,  the Middle  East,  West  Africa,  Asia  Pacific,  and the
Americas.

This news release  contains  forward  looking  statements as defined in the U.S.
Private Securities  Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including,  but not limited to
information  relating to our backlog and future  results.  Actual future results
and trends could differ  materially  from those set forth in such statements due
to various factors. Additional information concerning these factors is contained
from time to time in the Company's  U.S. SEC filings,  including but not limited
to the  Company's  report on Form 20-F/A for the year ended  November  30, 2001.
Copies of these filings may be obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC.

                                   -end text-