MACS plans new service between North Europe, Gulf of Mexico

The monthly ocean service will use multi-purpose ships and handle both breakbulk and containerized cargo.    MACS Maritime Carrier of Hamburg will start a new monthly service between North Europe and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in January.
   MACS said the service will employ the 34,000-DWT open hatch, box shaped multipurpose container vessels Amber Lagoon and Purple Beach.
   The ships will have lifting capacity of up to 110 metric tons. 
   MACS said the new service will accept breakbulk, unitized cargo, rolling stock, steel products, project cargo, bulk parcels, and containers. The rotation will be Altamira, Mexico; New Orleans; Houston; Rotterdam; Immingham; Bremen; Antwerp; and Bilbao.
   The Amber Lagoon will leave for the first eastbound sailing from Houston on Jan. 5. The first westbound voyage will start loading in Bremen on Jan. 30.
   In Europe, the service is managed by MACS, while the general agent in the U.S. is Galborg USA in Houston.