CP Ships prepares for increased role in US Maritime Security Program
29 Setembro 2005 - 11:55AM
PR Newswire (US)
MSP Ships to be renamed after US national parks Washington DC
office opens TAMPA, FL, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CP Ships
yesterday re- flagged the 3200 teu CP Yucatan to US flag and
changed its name to CP Yosemite in recognition of the ship's
enrolment in the US government's new Maritime Security Program
which comes into effect 1st October 2005 and under which CP Ships
is expanding its participation compared with the previous MSP. This
week, CP Ships also opened a new office in Washington DC to ensure
more efficient management of its US-flag business. CP Yosemite is
one of five vessels operating on the TransAtlantic which CP Ships
is committing to MSP and which will be named after US national
parks. In due course, the remaining four ships will be renamed CP
Everglades, CP Denali, CP Shenandoah and CP Yellowstone. CP Ships'
new MSP contract represents an increase over its previous
three-ship MSP participation. Under the new contract, government
subsidy of $145 million is provided over the next ten years to
offset the cost of operating five ships under US flag. MSP was
created to ensure that in times of war or national emergency the
Department of Defense has ready access to a fleet of modern and
efficient US-flag ships like CP Yosemite. Built in 2003, the ship
is geared, which means it is equipped with onboard cranes so it is
not reliant on shore-side equipment to load and unload. "We are
pleased to be dedicating our MSP ships to five of our best-loved
national parks as a symbol of our commitment to this business,"
said James Wachtel, VP Commercial-Government, who heads up CP
Ships' new Washington-based team. "We are also pleased to be
establishing our base here in Washington as it brings us closer to
our government customers." Mr Wachtel and his Washington team will
work closely with Captain John Murray, President and CEO of CP
Ships USA, who is responsible for coordinating with the US
government on the operations of the US-flag ships. He is based in
Tampa as is a dedicated support group for government business. Mr
Wachtel reports to Tony Bruno, Senior Vice President Commercial,
who is also based in Tampa. The new Washington office is located at
1001 Pennsylvania Avenue. ABOUT CP SHIPS One of the world's leading
container shipping companies, CP Ships provides international
container transportation services in four key regional markets:
TransAtlantic, Australasia, Latin America and Asia. Within these
markets CP Ships operates 38 services in 22 trade lanes. At 30th
June 2005, its vessel fleet was 82 ships and its container fleet
441,000 teu. Volume in 2004 was 2.3 million teu, more than 80% of
which was North American exports or imports. CP Ships also owns
Montreal Gateway Terminals, which operates one of the largest
marine container terminal facilities in Canada. CP Ships is listed
on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol TEU
and also in the S&P/TSX 60 Index of top Canadian publicly
listed companies. For further information visit
http://www.cpships.com/. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press
release contains certain forward-looking information and statements
within the meaning of the United States Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 relating but not limited to,
operations, anticipated or prospective financial performance,
results of operations, business prospects and strategies of CP
Ships. Forward-looking information typically contains statements
with words such as "consider," "anticipate," "believe," "expect,"
"plan," "intend," "likely" or similar words suggesting future
outcomes or statements regarding an outlook on future changes in
volumes, freight rates, costs, achievable cost savings, the
estimated amounts and timing of capital expenditures, anticipated
future debt levels and incentive fees or revenue, or other
expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions
or statements about future events or performance. Readers should be
aware that these statements are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking
statements. Although CP Ships believes it has a reasonable basis
for making the forecasts or projections included in this report,
readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such
forward-looking information. By its nature, the forward-looking
information of CP Ships involves numerous assumptions, inherent
risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute
to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts and other
forward-looking statements will not occur. These factors include,
but are not limited to, changes in business strategies; general
global, political and economic and business conditions, including
the length and severity of any economic slowdown in the countries
and regions where CP Ships operates, including seasonality,
particularly in the United States, Canada, Latin America,
Australasia, Asia and Europe; the effects of competition and
pricing pressures; changes in freight rates; industry
over-capacity; changes in demand for container shipping;
congestion; availability and cost of chartered ships; changes in
laws and regulations, including tax, environmental, employment,
competition, anti-terrorism and trade laws; difficulties in
achieving cost savings; currency exposures and exchange rate
fluctuations, fuel price and interest rate fluctuations; changes in
access to capital markets and other sources of financing; various
events which could disrupt operations, including war, acts of
terrorism, severe weather conditions and external labour unrest,
all of which may be beyond CP Ships' insurance coverage; compliance
with security measures by governmental and industry trade practice
groups, the outcome of civil litigation related to CP Ships'
restatement of financial results and the impact of any resulting
legal judgments, settlements and expenses, and CP Ships'
anticipation of and success in managing the risks associated with
the foregoing. The above list of important factors affecting
forward-looking information is not exhaustive, and reference should
be made to the other risks discussed in CP Ships' filings with
Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the US Securities
and Exchange Commission. CP Ships undertakes no obligation, except
as required by law, to update publicly or otherwise revise any
forward- looking information, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, or the above list of
factors affecting this information. DATASOURCE: CP Ships CONTACT:
Investors - Jeremy Lee, VP Investor Relations and Public Affairs,
Telephone: (514) 934-5254; Media - Elizabeth Canna, VP Group
Communications, Telephone: +44 (0)1293 861 921 or +41 (0)79 691
3764
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