U.S. Lines grabs former CP Ships executives to oversee Oceania expansion
Santa Ana, Calif.-based U.S. Lines Ltd. has appointed a number of former CP Ship executives to prepare for expansion of its service network to Australasia.
USL named Noel Coom as its senior vice president of Australia and New Zealand. He previously worked for CP Ships subsidiary Australia-New Zealand Direct Line before the parent company’s takeover by Hapag-Lloyd.
Another former ANZDL employee, John Pascoe, has been appointed senior vice president of operations for all USL’s business throughout Australasia.
USL in August will introduce fixed-day independent southbound sailings between Los Angeles and Australia and New Zealand, westbound services from New Zealand to Australia, and export services from both New Zealand and Australia to Hong Kong-South China and North America. USL will market the service as ANZL.
The company has also appointed Rolf Rasmussen as director, sales and marketing for the ANZL service while Adrian Butler has been named commercial manager. Rasmussen was national sales director for CP Ships and its brands in Australasia (ANZDL, Contship Containerlines and Lykes Lines). Butler was CP Ships’ trade director overseeing commercial activities from Australasia to North America.
In a related development, USL has selected the Port of Tauranga and its Metroport inland terminal to be its hub of operations in New Zealand. USL has reached agreement with the Port of Tauranga for a fixed berth at Sulphur Point terminal on Friday mornings meaning containers will be available at Metroport early in the next working week.
“Express shuttle rail connections running cargo between Tauranga’s Sulphur Point Terminal and Metroport will ensure that USL customers have those imports positioned close to their premises for easy access. Metroport also offers our Auckland customers a convenient drop-off location for export cargoes, as many of our exports originating in Auckland are sourced close to the Metroport terminal. Many truckers will agree that Metroport offers a less congested option for pick-ups and drop-offs,” said Craig Stapleton, USL’s New Zealand director of sales and commercial.
