Five Shipping Lines Agree to Form Alliance

Through its U.S. General Agent, Solar International Shipping, Yang Ming Line announced that five major Asian steamship lines have agreed to form one of the largest cooperative international sea container transport efforts among steamship lines. The new alliance for a cooperative worldwide network will consist of: COSCO Container Lines Ltd., Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K-Line), Yang Ming Marine Transport, Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd., and Senator Lines GmbH. Management for the group agree that the only way to provide the best possible service to customers in the container shipping industry is by means of optimization of each carrier?s assets and rationalization of their serivces on a global basis. There will be a transition time while the newly formed alliance will exchange slots and study changes in port rotations.