ACL/Grimaldi adding Libyan ports to Med service

ACL/Grimaldi adding Libyan ports to Med service    Grimaldi Group and its Atlantic Container Line subsidiary will add the ports of Misurata and Tripoli in Libya to their Mediterranean roll-on/roll-off service.
   The companies also indicated they may start a direct U.S./Mediterranean ro/ro-containership service rather than transshipping cargo through North Europe.
   U.S. shippers will be able to move cargo to and from Libya through the U.S./Med, which began in late 2001. The service links ACL's North Atlantic liner service with Grimaldi's Euromed Service with cargo being transferred at Antwerp.
   The companies said eventually it may be replaced by a direct service with roll-on/roll-off-containerships between Atlantic and Gulf ports and the eastern and western Mediterranean.
   ACL will call Thursdays in Baltimore, Fridays in Portsmouth, Va., Tuesdays in New York and Mondays in Halifax. The ACL vessels arrive Thursdays in Antwerp, where the cargo is relayed to the Grimaldi Euromed service that departs every Friday. The Grimaldi Euromed vessels proceed directly to the ports of Malta, Salerno, Piraeus, Izmir, Ashdod, Limassol, Alexandria and Savona. Grimaldi vessels also serve Palermo, Valencia, Venice and Koper, Livorno, Setubal Civitavecchia, Gemlik, Toulon, Tunis, Barcelona, Lisbon, Ravenna, Monfalcone and Haifa.