Chief executive of the Port of Tauranga, Jon Mayson, said that under the new ownership the MetroBox operation would be moved to an adjacent site to allow for the release of land for the expansion of Metroport.

Tranz Rail Group general manager rail services group, Noel Coom, said: “At Southdown we are already partners with Port of Tauranga with the highly successful inland port operation, Metroport, and now we have an additional joint venture with MetroBox.”

Mr Mayson said the additional land area available would enable the company to separate the truck and rail interfaces at the inland port. This would improve loading and turnaround times for both road and rail operators.

It would also allow management to reduce stacking heights for containers, making individual containers more accessible for loading. The changes would also see Tranz Rail introduce two new hoists as replacements that would refresh the fleet and play a further part in lifting operating efficiencies.

The new vessels will be equipped with 120 reefer plugs and be able to accommodate open side containers.

The ships are to also possess a sailing speed of 18.5 knots, and will be used on the line’s Far East/Southeast Asia service in the second half of 2004.

SITC will have a fleet of 10 ships, eight of which are the same, once the newbuildings start service.

The lawsuit was filed against the US Army Corps of Engineers in June by the City of Shoreacres and other local municipalities and organisations. While the lawsuit is related to PHA’s proposed Bayport facility, it does not specifically name PHA as a defendant.

The lawsuit alleges that the Corps should prepare a supplemental draft environmental impact statement (SDEIS) on the Bayport project and asserts other challenges to the Corps’ review of the Bayport project, including the Corps’ delineation of jurisdictional wetlands at the Bayport site.

“By intervening in the lawsuit, we are seeking to protect the Port Authority’s rights and prevent further delays that could significantly harm the region’s economy and job base,” said Jim Edmonds, PHA commission chairman.

“The lawsuit is a baseless challenge to the validity of the Corps’ process,” Mr Edmonds added. “The documents filed with the court clearly explain why the plaintiffs’ challenge will fail.”

The carrier said in a statement that it will be able to operate 14 freighter flights per week from Holland to Nanjing, Kunming, Tianjin and Shenzhen with a maximum of seven flights per destination.

In addition, Martinair has been granted co-terminalisation between The Netherlands and these cities with permits to carry fifth freedom cargo from China to any two intermediate points enroute.

Martinair currently offers fifth freedom capacity on the Bangkok/Nanjing, and the return sector. With the new agreement, the airline will immediately open up cargo capacity on its Sydney/Nanjing service.

“The Tang program will expand China Southern Cargo by tapping into network transportation and logistical distribution as it further implements China Southern’s strategic cargo goals,” said Wang Changshun, president of China Southern Airlines.

Tang utilises Microsoft’s SQL 2000 database platform in its design and development. Tang’s design features include high speed data transfer of cargo information and offers 13 different functional modules such as space booking; goods consignment and warehouse management.

Clients are offered 24-hour online cargo tracking, global network coverage, visual cargo monitoring, convenient operation profile and multiple-end information.

“Shippers can enjoy the safety and security of transmitting encrypted internet information and at the touch of their computer mouse, can arrange for their goods to be transported to varied destinations around the world via China Southern’s air and ground transport network,” said Mr Wang.

According to Pamela Rollins, Amerijet’s vice president of business development, the company will be exclusively represented in the market by Representaciones Aerocontinentales, a division of Servico Group, a local international freight agency. Mario Mora has been named station manager.

Support services such as document preparation, arrival notification, cargo tracking and a cargo reservations department also are available, a company spokesperson said.

Amerijet will provide full-service, multi-modal transportation to and from San Jose, with freight receiving open seven days a week at Terminales Santamaria.

Receiving hours are 0700 hrs – 1700 hrs Monday to Friday, and 0800 hrs and 1500 hrs on Saturday and Sunday.

“We anticipate fairly rapid growth with this route, as there is significant demand for the services we offer,” said Ms Rollins.

The local office address is Terminales Santamaria, second floor, office 2, Alajuela, Costa Rica, and the local phone number is (506) 443-4480 (or 4490).

The present 24 weekly flights into London’s Heathrow Airport will be supplemented with an additional 14 flights, which will operate between Abu Dhabi and Bahrain and London Gatwick Airport on Airbus A340 aircraft.

“From past experience, we know that demand is heavy over this peak period,” said John Butler, vice president marketing and sales.

“There are strong forward bookings for December and January, following on the trend established by our record performance in summer,” he said.

United currently flies weekend-only service between Dulles and San Juan via St Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

With this in mind, it has urged the EU to properly address “irrational restrictions and technical barriers towards China, and ease restrictions on high-tech exports in line with WTO rules.”

The Chinese Government made this appeal in its EU Policy Paper, which expounds on the objectives of China’s EU policy and outlines plans and measures on bilateral co-operation in the coming five years.

This is the first strategy document China has ever made on its policy towards the EU.

The paper highlights prospects and measures of China’s co-operation with the EU in various fields including politics, military, economy, education, science, culture, social and judicial aspects. Over the past eight years, the EU has issued five China strategy papers.

China’s paper calls upon the EU to grant a “full market economy status” at an early date, reduce and abolish anti-dumping and other discriminatory policies and practices aimed at China, and “apply the Transitional Product-Specific Safeguard Mechanism (TPSSM) prudently”.

Currently, the EU is China’s third biggest trading partner and vice versa. Trade volume between China and the EU hit US$86.76 billion last year.

The paper said in order to make the EU China’s largest trading and investment partner, both parties should take measures to improve their economic relations over the next five years.

There should also be an increase in China-EU co-ordination and co-operation in the new round of WTO negotiations.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the government hopes to enhance co-operation with the EU and promote long-term and stable development of relations with the paper.

According to statistics provided by Shenzhen Customs, exports were valued at $6.3 billion, a record high for the south China city.

Exports by private enterprises jumped by almost 70 per cent, while exports by foreign funded companies rose by 35 per cent.

Exports of high-technology products, such as computer and telecommunications products, rose by 50.45 per cent to a value of $14.17 billion.

Phase one of the port, which includes four berths, is expected to be finished by next August.

The berths will have total length of 700 meters and a depth of 17 metres.

In an unrelated matter to Mr Witteveen’s resignation, the board has also accepted the resignation of Mitchell Gordon, the company’s former CFO, as a member of the board.

“The audit committee’s investigation by Morrison and Foerster identified certain problems, and we are taking appropriate actions to correct them,” said Martin Tuchman, chairman and CEO, who will assume the duties of COO and president.

Mr Tuchman also announced two senior-level appointments who will be responsible for overseeing Interpool’s business units.

Richard Gross, who has been serving as acting CFO, will become COO of Interpool, the company’s international container business, once a new CFO is named.

Herbert Mertz, as COO of Trac Lease Inc., will assume full responsibilities for the company’s domestic chassis operations.

“The fundamentals of our company are sound and very strong,” Mr Tuchman said.

“These resignations are necessary to clear the air of uncertainty about our accounting errors and the credibility of our financial statements.”