FastShip seeking cargo commitments

FastShip seeking cargo commitments FastShip Inc., the Philadelphia-based company planning to build three jet-powered cargo ships that would cross the Atlantic in less than four days and offer door-to-door deliveries between major industrial centers in Europe and the United States in six to seven days, is asking potential customers to make offers for space on the ships.
   In partnership with U.K.-based consultant Triangle Management Services, FastShip is asking for tenders for capacity over the next two months. The company plans a twice-weekly service using three ships it says would travel at 40 knots, even in heavy seas. It hopes to begin operations in 2010.
   The service would provide lift of about 10,000 tons of cargo per voyage or about 1.3 million tons per year.
   Roland K. Bullard II, president and chief executive officer of FastShip, said the company hopes to use cargo commitments from customers to assist in securing financing for the project. It plans to build the three vessels at shipyards operated by Aker in Germany.
   Shippers' level of interest in the project would likely determine how much equity FastShip needs to raise in order to proceed with its plan to develop the service between Philadelphia and Cherbourg, France, he added.
   'FastShip will fill the tremendous gap in terms of price, reliability, and transit times that exists between air and sea freight,' Bullard said. The company wants to capture 'the untapped middle market in the shipping industry between air and sea freight, enabling door-to-door delivery time that is comparable to standard air freight at half the cost.'
   The company notes that it has made a number of improvements to the proposed service, one of which is to use rubber-tired automated guided vehicles to rapidly stow and discharge cargo.
   The company said it would be able to turn the vessels around in about six hours, but by using rubber-tied vehicles to strip and stow the ship, the company will have more flexibility at which terminals it calls at than with a rail-based system it originally envisioned.
   In Philadelphia, Bullard said the Packer Marine Terminal is a likely location for the ship to call.