Issued on behalf of the member lines of the Grand Alliance: Hapag-Lloyd Container Line (HLCL), MISC Berhad (MISC), Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL):
– Slot-exchange and joint service to begin in early 2006 –
Hamburg / Hong Kong / Kuala Lumpur / Seoul / Singapore / Tokyo – 6 October 2005: The member lines of the Grand Alliance (GA) and The New World Alliance (TNWA) today announced their agreement to co-operate on key trades from early 2006.
This co-operation will significantly broaden the respective Alliances’ capabilities, network coverage and schedule frequency, with improved service efficiency and wider choice for customers of the respective Alliances.
The member lines of the Grand Alliance [Hapag-Lloyd Container Line (HLCL), MISC Berhad (MISC), Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL)], and The New World Alliance [APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Mitsui O.S.K Lines Ltd.], will initially exchange slots in the Asia-Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trades, and introduce a new jointly-operated loop on the Asia-East Coast of North America, via Panama trade. At a later stage, the members of the two Alliances may further expand the scope of their co-operation through additional joint services.
Grand Alliance representatives said that the members are committed to providing first-class service, and that the co-operation with TNWA members will create an exceptionally strong product to meet customers’ needs, as well as generate further efficiencies.
TNWA representatives said, “With the most modern fleet in the world and largest number of Post-Panamax vessels, the co-operation between the two Alliances will result in increased and enhanced services. Working together will enable us to deliver better and more flexible product and service options for our customers – particularly as new containerships delivered to our companies in 2006 and 2007 are integrated into the fleet.”
“Our focus is on working together to deliver a high-quality product across the markets where we co-operate – building increasingly comprehensive network coverage that meets the needs of our customers as they grow and develop their businesses globally,” the representatives from both Alliances said.
(L-R) Philip Chow, CEO of Orient Overseas Container Line; Ron D. Widdows, CEO of APL; Adolf Adrion, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd Container Line; J.H. Lee, Executive VP of Hyundai Merchant Marine; Tadamasa Ishida, Executive VP
of Nippon Yusen Kaisha; Hiroyuki Sato, CEOof Mitsui O.S.K Lines Ltd., and Niels Kim Balling, VP Liner Business
of MISC Berhad
Media Contacts:
APL: Mr. David Glendining
Tel: +65 6371 5311
e-mail: david_glendining@nol.com.sg
HMM: Mr. Jin Il Chung
Tel: +82 2 3706 5474
e-mail: pccji@hmm.co.kr
MOL: Mr. Tsuyoshi Yoshida
Tel: +81 3 3587 7422
e-mail: lapln@mail.mol.co.jp
OOCL: Mr. Teddy Fung
Tel: +852 2833 383
e-mail: teddy.fung@oocl.com
HLCL: Mr. Klaus Heims
Tel:+49 40 3001 2263
e-mail: klaus.heims@hlag.de
MISC Berhad: Ms. Fiona Clare Pereira
Tel: +603 2275 2701
e-mail: fclarepe@miscbhd.com
NYK: Mr. Takahiro Kikuchi
Tel: +81 3 3284 5437
e-mail: takahiro_kikuchi@jp.nykline.com