Print
PDF
United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) has entered into a new partnership with CMA CGM and Hamburg Süd in order to enter the North Atlantic trade. Through a vessel sharing agreement, the three partner companies will operate a service on the Transatlantic North sector, linking Northern Europe with the United States East Coast. The joint service will call at the ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Le Havre, Southampton, New York, Norfolk, Charleston and Savannah.
UASC’s entry into the transatlantic trade marks an important step forward for the company, Jørn Hinge, president and chief executive officer, believes. He says, “This announcement marks an exciting new chapter for UASC as we enter the North Atlantic service and further cement our position as an emerging global carrier. Collaboration with other leading carriers ensures that we can provide our customers with the widest scope of global services and the lowest possible unit costs, whilst growing in a responsible fashion and without adding unnecessary capacity.”
The new service will start in the third week of May 2015 and UASC promises that more details about transit times and space allocation will be published soon.
This new North Atlantic trade partnership is the latest in a series of key service announcements by UASC. In September last year, UASC announced the Ocean3 alliance with CMA CGM and China Shipping Container Lines, for which services commenced in January. UASC has also entered into a general cooperation agreement with Hamburg Süd to secure entry to the South American trades for the first time, with services due to start in mid-April.
UASC is engaged in a major newbuilding program for 17 new ships, comprising 11 15,000 teu A15 class vessels and six 18,800 teu vessels of the A18 type, which are designed to be among the most cost-efficient and environmentally friendly ships of their type in the world. The first three A15 vessels have already been delivered to the UASC fleet, while a total of 11 vessels from UASC’s newbuild program will be handed over by the end of 2015.
Meanwhile UASC’s sister company, United Arab Chemical Carriers has taken steps to extend its fleet as well, acquiring a 51,000 dwt tanker from Eships of Abu Dhabi. Eships Maya was built in 2010 at the SLS Shipyard in South Korea and will be renamed UACC Ras Tanura on its delivery to the company this March.
