CP SHIPS CONSIDERS JOINING REVISED TACA

CP SHIPS CONSIDERS JOINING REVISED TACA    CP Ships, the parent company of transatlantic carriers Lykes Lines and TMM Lines, said that it is considering joining the U.S./northern Europe trade’s Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement.
   “It’ll take quite a lot of thought — it’s nothing definitive,” said Liz Canna, spokesman for the London-based shipping group.
   The    conference secretariat said that the Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement has not received a formal request to join from CP Ships.
   “If we do, we will be obliged to notify the European Commission,” a conference official told American Shipper.
   After years of legal battles with the transatlantic conference, the European Commission formally cleared the “revised TACA” agreement in November. The regulatory clearance is expected to make it easier for the conference to attract new carrier members.
   In a separate development, TACA said that Olav Rakkenes continues to serve as chairman of the conference, despite having stepped down as chief executive officer of Atlantic Container Line at the end of December.