Canada Maritime Agrees to Container Slot Sale

CP Ships division Canada Maritime, along with OOCL its long-term partner in the St Lawrence Coordinated Service (SLCS), has agreed to charter a fixed number of container slots to CMA-CGM on one of its Montreal-North Europe services. The agreement is expected to take effect in late April after CMA-CGM has withdrawn its existing tonnage from this route.

The slot-charter is in addition to the existing agreement between Canada Maritime, OOCL and the Canex consortium which began in January 2003. "This will help supply and demand in the Montreal-North Europe trade lane become better balanced," said CP Ships Executive Vice President Commercial Alan Boylan. "It will lead to greater operating efficiencies and therefore help us improve our TransAtlantic performance." The slots will be taken on three SLCS ships, Canmar Spirit, Canmar Venture and OOCL Montreal for service between Montreal and Antwerp and Le Havre.