Service Announcements: CaroTrans, Global Ship Lease and Liebherr Maritime

CaroTrans commences Japan-to-Miami LCL service, Global Ship Lease takes delivery of second 8,063-TEU ship, and Liebherr Maritime introduces LHM 800 mobile harbor crane.    CaroTrans commenced a new multi-origin, less-than-container load service from Japan to Miami with the first sailing Feb. 27. The NVOCC and ocean freight consolidator said in a statement its new LCL service will bring consolidated cargo from Kobe, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo and Yokohama in Japan to Miami on a weekly basis.
   The service will allow CaroTrans, which has a dedicated import team in Miami, to offer one-stop transportation solutions for LCL freight destined for the Florida market or destinations in the Caribbean and Central and South America from Japan.
   “Miami is our 5th direct, weekly service to the U.S. from Japan further strengthening our network that includes services to Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Atlanta,” said CaroTrans CEO Greg Howard. “It is an important connection for U.S. clients in Florida and boosts our North-South service network.  Our Miami branch is strategically positioned to facilitate Japan import cargo flows to Latin America .”

   Containership charter owner Global Ship Lease, Inc. took delivery the OOCL Qingdao, an 8,063-TEU containership.
   Upon delivery, the 2004-built vessel resumed a timecharter with Orient Overseas Container Line (UK) Limited, an affiliate of the seller. The terms of the charter were for 36 to 39 months at a rate of $34,500 per day.
   Global Ship Lease currently owns 19 vessels with a total capacity of 82,475 TEU, according to a statement from the company. All 19 vessels are currently fixed on time charters, 15 of them with French carrier CMA CGM.
   Ian Webber, CEO of Global Ship Lease, said, “Delivery of this vessel marks another important step for Global Ship Lease, expanding our annual EBITDA by $9.4 million and increasing our contracted revenue stream by between $37.7 and $40.9 million, while strengthening our existing relationship with a world-class liner company in OOCL.”

   Liebherr Maritime Cranes has introduced a new large mobile harbor crane, LHM 800, which has a lift capacity of 308 tons. The crane can also handle containers, reaching across ships as wide as 22 container rows.
   The company said the LHM 800 is capable of handling 38 boxes per hour in a standard configuration and up to 45 boxes per hour if the crane is equipped with its hybrid power booster.