The China-Black Sea (CBS) service will employ seven 2,300 TEU vessels and have a port rotation of Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Chiwan, Port Kelang, Colombo, Port Said, Piraeus, Istanbul, Constanza, Odessa, Ilichevsk, Damietta, Port Kelang and Ningbo.

The service’s first westbound sailing will be from Ningbo on the CMA CGM Marmara on December 7 and the first eastbound sailing will be a day later from Piraeus.

The company is also set to launch a new weekly service linking the Mediterranean with the US east coast. The first sailings are scheduled to take place in mid-December.

The Mediterranean-USEC service (MUS) will also be operated in co-operation with CMA CGM, utilising slots on one of the French company’s existing services.

Five 1,600 TEU vessels are to be deployed. The port rotation will be: Lisbon, Malta, Livorno, Genoa, Fos, Valencia, Lisbon, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Port Everglades and Lisbon.

“Lloyd Triestino is committed to being a global player and especially for us as an Italian carrier, having no service between the Mediterranean and North America was really a missing link,” said chairman Pier-Luigi Maneschi.

“Our customers have been asking for us to provide exactly this type of service.”

CSXWT will provide third party container terminal services at the facility.

The Blount Island facility at JAXPORT will be CSXWT’s first US terminal operation since the company was formed following the sale of certain international assets of Sea-Land Service in late 1999.

“We look forward to re-establishing our presence in the North American market,” said Bob Grassi, president and CEO of CSXWT.

In addition to the Blount Island facility, JAXPORT owns two other terminals in Jacksonville; the Dames Point Marine Terminal and the JAX Cruise terminal.

“We are pleased that CSX World Terminals has selected JAXPORT to be its re-entry into US terminal operations and are confident that it will be successful in its efforts,” said Roy Schleicher, JAXPORT senior director of trade development and marketing.

The joint service, which began last month, is initially for three flights a week, increasing to four flights weekly this month, using EVA Air’s Boeing 747-400 or MD-11 freighter aircraft.

All joint-service flights have dual designation, with both EVA Air (BR) and PAL (PR) codes attached to flight numbers.

The partnership provides PAL with additional freight capacity to meet the increasing requirements of traders on both sides of the Bashi Channel that separates the two neighbours.

Philippine exports to Taiwan have expanded by 27 per cent to US$1.65 billion in 2002 and the figure for the first eight months of this year has already reached $1.38 billion.

Imports from Taiwan have showed equally robust growth, with the value for January to August 2003 of $1.18 billion nearly matching 2002′s total Taiwan import bill of $1.22 billion.

The Philippines is also a major manufacturing and assembly base for Taiwanese firms, further fueling cargo traffic between the two sides.

EVA Air, an affiliate of the Taiwan-based container shipping giant Evergreen Marine Corp., is PAL’s second cargo code-share partner, after Lufthansa German Airlines on the Manila-Frankfurt route. The latter agreement though has been temporarily suspended since March owing to the economic slowdown.

Cargo operations is one of PAL’s major business units, accounting for about 11 per cent of the airline’s operating revenues this past fiscal year. The flag carrier is the largest cargo operator domestically and is a key player in the international sector.

Qantas CEO, Geoff Dixon, said that the Victorian capital was chosen because it offered the most attractive package including excellent facilities, a skilled workforce and incentives.

“I would like to thank the Victorian government for its support of this project,” Mr Dixon said.

“The new airline will start flying to destinations in Australia from May next year and, with its headquarters in Melbourne, it will grow to employ about 1,000 Victorians over the next few years.

“Qantas currently employs more than 6,500 people in Victoria and is a major supporter of a range of community, sports and arts organisations including the Royal Children’s Hospital, the Victorian Institute for the Blind, the Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, the Australian Formula One Grand Prix and the Australian Tennis Open.

“Qantas has also recently invested A$9.8 million (US$7.04 million) in the refurbishment of Hangar 4 at Avalon Airport, which will grow to employ 300 skilled workers, and entered into a joint venture with Patrick Corporation to acquire the former Ansett engine maintenance facility at Garden Drive, Tullamarine.”

Mr Dixon said that further information relating to the low cost carrier – including its name, livery and fleet – would be announced soon.

The move is in connection with the potential future offer and sale, from time to time, of up to US$3 billion aggregate of AMR’s common stock, preferred stock, debt securities and other types of securities, and American Airlines’ pass through certificates, debt securities and other types of securities.

These securities, which may be offered in one or more offerings and in any combination, will in each case be offered pursuant to a separate prospectus supplement issued at the time of the particular offering that will describe the specific types, amounts, prices and terms of the offered securities.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective.

These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective.

The company’s board of directors also said it has plans to order an additional eight 1,730-TEU container ships to meet Asian market demand.

“Since 1999, the intra-Asia service routes have become part of the world’s most brisk container operations,” the group said in a statement.

A Yang Ming spokesperson added that the company predicts container volumes in Asia will grow at a rate of 6.5 per cent per annum through to the end of 2007.

Mr Xu said the city would function as a distribution and service centre for China’s hinterland and would encompass an export processing centre, bond area and offshore finance centre.

The port authority official added that one of the biggest rivers in China, the Changjiang, will undergo its second phase of dredging, increasing its depth to 12.5 metres at the mouth of the river, as part of Shanghai’s efforts to accommodate the world’s largest vessels.

Phase Four of Waigaoqiao Port was recently completed increasing throughput at the facility to four million TEU per annum, Mr Xu said, adding, the city’s port authority was drawing up plans for the next phase of the development.

Precious’ financial director Somprathana Thepnapaplern said: “Freight rates now, compared to last year, are nearly 30 per cent higher already.”

The company reported a core revenue of US$82.8 million in 2002 and THB2.7 billion ($67.7 million) in the first nine months of 2003.

Rates are expected to improve to an average of $9,000 in the fourth quarter, against an average of $7,300 per ship per day this year, as opposed to a rate of $5,800 in 2002.

This year’s higher rates helped the firm’s gross margin increase to 47 per cent in the third quarter from an average of 35 per cent last year, Mr Somprathana said in a statement.

The firm will add two ships to its fleet of 29 by January and plans to buy two or three more shortly after.

Precious Shipping is Thailand’s largest shipping company. Precious is the Thai stock market’s best-performing stock this year with a 1,120 per cent jump, with the overall Thai bourse rising 72 per cent in the year to date.