CP SHIPS UNITS LYKES, CONTSHIP ENTER ASIA/EUROPE TRADE

CP SHIPS UNITS LYKES, CONTSHIP ENTER ASIA/EUROPE TRADE    In a move that will complete its presence in the east/west container trades, the CP Ships group has announced that its subsidiaries Lykes Lines and Contship Containerlines will enter the Asia/Europe trade in March.
   The fast-growing Canadian-owned liner shipping group has signed a slot charter agreement with CMA CGM on two weekly Asia/northern Europe loops and one weekly Asia/Mediterranean service.
   The two-year agreement starts in March and by the end of the year the slot charter will reach 1,500 TEUs a week in each direction. It will cover CMA CGM’s French Asia Line, North China Express and Mediterranean Express services.
   “We have been seeking a cost-effective entry into the Europe-Asia trade,” said Ray Miles, chief executive officer of CP Ships.
   Miles added that the cooperation with CMA CGM will help build the group’s presence.
   For CP Ships, the Asia/Europe trade was the last east/west trade where it did not have a presence. CP Ships’ subsidiaries Canada Maritime, Cast, Lykes, TMM Lines and Contship Containerlines are strongly involved in the transatlantic. In recent years, Lykes and TMM have also built up their relatively modest presence in the transpacific trade.
   For CMA CGM, the cooperation with CP Ships as a slot charterer will commence as the French group prepares to introduce, from May, a series of new 6,500-TEU containerships that will replace smaller units of about 4,100-TEU capacity.
   CP Ships and CMA CGM already cooperate on trade routes other than Asia/Europe, with joint services in the Indian Subcontinent/Europe, Indian Subcontinent/U.S. and Europe/U.S./Australasia/Southeast Asia/Europe trade.
   “Over the last few years, we have developed a strong strategic partnership with CP Ships,” said Jacques Saad', chairman of Holding CMA CGM.
   CP Ships carried 1.8 million TEUs last year and is ranked as the world’s seventh largest container shipping group.