FastShip offers tender for transatlantic cargo capacity

FastShip offers tender for transatlantic cargo capacity Without a ship yet built, the management of FastShip will issue a tender in November to the shipping industry for 1.3 million tons of transatlantic cargo capacity.
   FastShip, a high-speed vessel service concept that has been in the works for about a decade, will make the capacity of three so-called JetShips available to shippers, freight forwarders, airlines and any other interested transportation providers.
   The tender, which closes in the first quarter of 2007, allows bidders to contract an option on future capacity through the FastShip service. Successful bidders can also negotiate exclusivity within a specific sector.
   The goal of the FastShip is to move cargoes that fall between the need for fast air transport and slower ocean vessel moves. “We’re creating a middle market,” said Rolland K. Bullard II, president and chief executive officer of FastShip, during a press conference at the International Air Cargo Forum and Exposition in Calgary on Tuesday.
   “Our research shows a high level of interest within the industry for the JetShip service which is the impetus behind the tender process,” said Paul Jackson, chairman of Triangle Management Services. Triangle will oversee the tender.
   However, Bullard admits that without a successful tender FastShip may remain on the drawing board. He said the tenders are needed to help complete the financing for the construction of the first three JetShips, which are expected to be built by the German shipyard Akar. JP Morgan serves as FastShip’s financial advisor. So far, FastShip has invested about $54 million in the project.
   Each JetShip will have a capacity to handle 10,000 tons in container volume. With 25 automated guided vehicles, containers will be loaded and offloaded within six hours. At a proposed speed of 41 knots, FastShip promises its vessels will cross the Atlantic, between the ports of Philadelphia and Cherbourg, France, within five days. The goal is the launch the transatlantic service by December 2009.
   FastShip proponents say the goal for the transatlantic service is to capture 11 percent of the air cargo market and 1.8 percent of the ocean freight business.
   In addition to the three JetShips for the transatlantic service, FastShip plans to eventually offer a five-vessel transpacific service that will operate between Seattle and Kobe, Japan in six days. A stop is also planned for Shanghai.
   Proponents are confident that this time FastShip will take off.
   “This is ready to go,” Bullard said. “Customers will buy it. That’s what they’ve been telling us.”