Hamburg Sud subsidiary Alianca christens the <Pedro Alvares Cabral>

Hamburg Sud subsidiary Alianca christened its container ship <Pedro Alvares Cabral> during a ceremony held for customers at the port of Itapoa. The ship's Sponsor was Elisabeth von Kruger de Freitas, the wife of Humberto Ramos de Freitas, Executive Officer for Logistics and Mineral Exploration of Vale S.A., one of the most important clients of Alianca Bulk. Dr. Arnt Vespermann, member of the Executive Board of Hamburg Sud and Julian Thomas, General Manager Region South America East Coast of Hamburg Sud and Alianca, also participated in the ceremonies.

The <Pedro Alvares Cabral> is one of four identical 3,800 TEU ships by which Alianca is modernizing and expanding its cabotage fleet. Her three sister ships were christened during the course of last year at Pecem, Manaus and Santos. The ships not only set new standards as regards capacity in cabotage services, but also in terms of the environment. All ships carry the names of important South American explorers. The <Pedro Alvares Cabral> was named after the famous Portuguese mariner who discovered Brazil on April 22, 1500.

The christening of the <Pedro Alvares Cabral> in Itapoa (in the Federal state of Santa Catarina) allows the shipping carrier to underline how strongly the post is anchored as a 'hub' in the international liner service and the cabotage and Mercosur services. With its terminal in the only deep-water port in southern Brazil, Alianca - together with the Battistella group and LogZ Logistica Brasil have successfully completed an important infrastructure project. Porto Itapoa started operations in mid-2011, has a current handling capacity of 500,000 TEU each year, and employs around 650 staff. < Korea Shipping Gazette >