Thamesport (London) is celebrating the return of three transatlantic services operated by the Grand Alliance. The PAX (Pacific Atlantic Express) service, the GAX (Gulf Atlantic Express) service and the GMX (Gulf of Mexico Express) service will all transfer their weekly UK port calls to Thamesport in mid-May 2008.
Chris Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, which owns Thamesport, said:
“The return of these three transatlantic services is a further boost for shippers using Thamesport. The addition of these routes means that customers will be able to benefit from the Port’s links to the US, as well as to the buoyant markets of the Far East.”
He continued:
“Thamesport is the only deep-water container terminal in the UK currently able to accommodate a significant increase in container volumes. The return of these prestigious services proves the attractiveness of the Port to UK importers and exporters, with excellent turnaround times for hauliers.”
The PAX service is a Japan – US West Coast – US East Coast – Northern  Europe service. Hapag Lloyd deploy 12 of the 13 vessels on this service, whilst the recently-introduced 4,900-TEU NYK Nebula completes the list of vessels, which average 294m in length and 4,750 TEUs in capacity.
The rotation of the PAX service will be as follows:
Thamesport – Antwerp – Bremerhaven – Rotterdam – Halifax – New York – Norfolk – Savannah – Long Beach – Oakland – Yokohama – Kobe – Yantian – Hong Kong – Nagoya – Tokyo – Seattle – Oakland – Manzanillo – Savannah – Norfolk – New York – Halifax – Thamesport
The GAX service is operated with five 3,237-TEU ‘Charleston’ Class vessels, deployed by Hapag Lloyd, at 243m in length. The service links Northern Europe with the South East Coast of the United States.
The rotation of the GAX service will be as follows:
Thamesport – Bremerhaven – Charleston – Miami - Houston – Charleston – Norfolk – Antwerp – Thamesport
The GMX service operates between the Gulf of Mexico and Northern Europe with six Hapag Lloyd vessels of approximately 3,000 TEU in capacity and 243m in length.
The rotation of the GMX service will be as follows:
Thamesport – Antwerp – Breherhaven – Le Havre – Veracruz – Altamira – Houston – New Orleans – Charleston – Thamesport
The Grand Alliance, formed in 1998, is the leading integrated consortium in global container shipping. Its members are Hapag-Lloyd, MISC Berhad, NYK  and OOCL.