Hapag-Lloyd links Mediterranean/US East Coast and US Gulf

Adolf Adrion, managing director of Hapag-Lloyd Container Line, describes the advantages of this expansion of the liner network as follows: "With this new service we offer our customers additional direct links between the Mediterranean and the US, providing faster handling as well as increased transport capacity for a rapidly growing market."

The new service will start in February 2001 initially with fortnightly links. Weekly departures are to be offered from this summer. The ships to be deployed will each be able to carry 1,800 standard containers (TEU). It is planned to call at the ports Malta, Salerno/Naples, La Spezia/Genoa, Fos, Barcelona and Lisbon in Europe and New York, Charleston/Savannah, Miami and Houston in the US. Charleston/Savannah will be served in the both west- and east-going service. Terminal negotiations are to be concluded shortly.

The service is being provided in cooperation with P&O Nedlloyd, Farrell Lines and ZIM Lines. This partnership is still subject to approval by the relevant authorities in the USA and the EU in Brussels.

Hapag-Lloyd has established a comprehensive network of agencies covering the Mediterranean region and the Black Sea, thereby guaranteeing customers local contact partners. The western Mediterranean is organized by Hapag-Lloyd (France) in Paris, while Hapag-Lloyd (Italy) in Genoa is responsible for the eastern Mediterranean, including Italy.

As Adrion emphasizes: "Apart from our existing three services, which already call at various ports in the USA and the Mediterranean, we will also offer direct sailings from Fos and Barcelona in the future. We can thus ensure that cargo from southern France and Spain is shipped by the fastest possible route to the consignee in the US."