OOCL CREATES RUSSIA AGENCY, NAMES MEXICO AGENT

OOCL CREATES RUSSIA AGENCY, NAMES MEXICO AGENT    Orient Overseas Container Line has created a 100-percent-owned agency company, OOCL (Russia) Ltd., and named Agencia Naviera De Mexico S.A. De C.V. (Agnamex) as its new agent in Mexico.
   OOCL (Russia) Ltd., which started operations July 1, is based in St. Petersburg, with a Moscow sales office. Nick Popov, general manager with Intransservice Ltd., OOCL's agent since 1997, will be managing director of the new agency company.
   'OOCL has been serving St. Petersburg and the Russian market with our own dedicated Scan Baltic Express service since April 1998,' said Ted Wang, managing director for OOCL (Europe) Ltd. in London. 'Starting with two ice-class vessels we have steadily upgraded our service step by step until we have two separate services, SBX 1 and SBBX 2, making two calls each week.
   SBX 1 operates with two 860-TEU ice-class vessels providing fixed-day weekly sailings with a rotation of St. Petersburg, Hamburg, Grangemouth, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Gdansk, Hamina, St. Petersburg.
   SBX 2 operates with one 600-TEU ice-class vessel with a weekly rotation of St. Petersburg, Gdansk, Hamburg and St. Petersburg.
   In Mexico, Agnamex offers liner agency, intermodal and port services through offices in Mexico City, Veracruz and Altamira/Tampico.
   OOCL serves the Mexican trade with the dedicated all-water Gulf Mexican Service between the Mexican Gulf and North Europe. OOCL also provides intermodal service from the Monterrey area, via the Laredo, Texas, gateway to and from North Europe and Asia.