P&O Nedlloyd will quit the joint service with Hamburg Süd group by the end of current month and timebeing no further news were received from the British-Dutch group on whether they will main a position in this market.

Hamburg Süd and Aliança announced they will now be the sole operators of the service linking the East Coast South America with the U.S. Gulf - Mexico - Central America and the Caribbean, offered from on a fixed-day weekly service effective January 2005 by deploying six vessels with average capacity of 1.200 TEU each.

The rotation will be Rio Grande, Itajaí, Santos, Sepetiba, Salvador, Puerto Cabello, Cartagena, Veracruz, Altamira, Houston, Cartagena, Puerto Cabello, Salvador (southbound), Santos (southbound) and Rio Grande.

Ports of Buenos Aires - Montevideo same as cargo from Paraguay will be offered by the new Hamburg Süd - Aliança service through transhipment in Brazilian Ports in combination with other group cabotage services linking key ports in Brazil -Uruguay - Argentina, Chile and Peru.