HYUNDAI Merchant Marine and APL Ltd have signed a vessel-sharing agreement with Maersk to offer service aboard a Maersk line that makes weekly calls at the Mobile Container Terminal in Alabama.

The vessel-sharing agreement won't bring new ships to the terminal, but help Mobile bring in more containers, says the terminal director Brian Clark. There are 50 full time dockers, mostly unionised, and this number doubles when containers are being handled.

The vessel-sharing agreement involves Maersk's Transatlantic (TA2) line, which serves northern Europe, UK/Ireland, Scandinavian and Baltic destinations. Including TA2, four lines call on the terminal, also offering service to Mexico, central and South America, and Asia.

Mr Clark said the new partnership has meant increased weekly volume of 15 per cent, reported the Mobile Press-Register.

The terminal, which started regular operations in October, is a partnership between the Alabama State Port Authority and Mobile Container Terminal LLC, a consortium consisting of AP Moller-Maersk subsidiary APM Terminals of North America Inc, which has an 80 per cent stake, and Terminal Link, a division of CMA CGM, which has 20 per cent.

Half the US$150 million investment is the authority's and half is Mobile Container Terminal's. The terminal can move about 300,000 TEU a year, but it hopes to handle 800,000 TEU annually.