APL TO BUY AMERICAN AUTOMAR

APL TO BUY AMERICAN AUTOMAR    APL, the container shipping unit of NOL Group, said it has reached agreement to acquire American Automar, the ship-owning company providing U.S.-flag services to the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies.
   APL will acquire the privately held Automar in a $50-million, all-cash transaction, which includes about $15 million in debt.
   Oakland, Calif.-based APL will allow Bethesda, Md.-based American Automar to continue to operate as a separate company under its current name, management and organizational structure.
   Automar owns and operates vessels that are chartered to the U.S. Navy, including the only semi-submersible heavy-lift ship in the U.S.-flag fleet. Automar also recently completed a vessel conversion program for the U.S. Marine Corps and now operates it under a long-term charter.
   Bot APL and Automar are part of the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement, which provides sealift support to the Defense Department in times of national emergency. APL also has nine ships in the Maritime
Security Program, operated through subsidiary American Ship Management.
   APL said the acquisition on Automar was part of planned growth by NOL Group. That growth included the acquisition of Florida-based GATX Logistics by APL Logistics, APL's sister company.
'    This acquisition broadens our transportation and logistics business to meet the growing global needs of DoD, said Ed Aldridge, president of APL Americas region. APL has been seeking to build on its current business with DoD, one of the world's largest users of logistics services.