19.04.00
"This is the last phase of our plan decided on in the Grand Alliance in 1997 of starting a joint service on the North Atlantic by mid-2000," commented Günther Casjens, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd Container Line, after the signing of the contract for the service on April 18th 2000. With its entry into the North Atlantic, the Grand Alliance is closing the remaining gap in its global East-West services. On the North Atlantic the consortium will cooperate with Americana Ships, a member of the Canadian CP Group.
A total of five services will be set up, calling at ports in Europe, the USA and Mexico. For customers this means a high departure frequency, short transit times and a large number of ports of call. "We are currently negotiating with ports and terminals and will be concluding these shortly. We will then give shippers details of ports of call and departure days," stated Günther Casjens. The agreement will be presented for approval to the EU Commission and US Federal Maritime Commission. The new services are to start this summer.
The other members of the Grand Alliance are the Asian shipping lines NYK, OOCL and MISC and the British-Dutch P&O/Nedlloyd. The consortium has so far offered twelve services with over 100 modern containerships between Europe and Asia and on the Pacific between North America and Asia.
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