LEIF HOEGH, LOUIS DREYFUS GET AIRBUS CONTRACT

LEIF HOEGH, LOUIS DREYFUS GET AIRBUS CONTRACT    Airbus has signed a 20-year contract with a joint venture of Leif Hoegh & Co. ASA and Louis Dreyfus Armateurs for the transportation of A 380 aircraft components.
   The newly-established joint venture, FR.E.T.-CETAM SAS, is owned 50/50 by Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, based in France, and Leif Hoegh & Co., of Norway.
   The joint venture will ship A 380 components between Hamburg, Cadiz, Mostyn, St. Nazaire and Bordeaux. The agreement with Airbus can be extended by up to 10 additional years, Hoegh said.
         The agreement involves the ordering of a specialized roll-on/roll-off vessel from the Chinese shipyard Jinling.
   “The vessel specifications make it suited to carry both aircraft components and other ro/ro cargo,” Hoegh said.
   The vessel will be delivered during the first quarter of 2004 and fly the French flag. Airbus has an option to call for an additional vessel to be built for delivery in 2007 as the number of A 380 aircrafts to be produced grows.