Grand Alliance ATX service to deploy more tonnage to cut fuel costs

Grand Alliance container shipping lines Hapag-Lloyd, NYK and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) have announced they are upgrading their Atlantic Express (ATX) service that plies the trade between north Europe and the north Atlantic.

Starting from early March, the Grand Alliance's ATX service, which is operated in cooperation with Zim Integrated Shipping Services, will deploy four 4,000-TEU vessels to replace the four smaller 2,800-TEU ships the ATX service uses. One of the container ships used on the service will be provided by Zim and the other three will come from the three Grand Alliance members. Furthermore, the Atlantic Express service will replace the current NEX service offered by Zim, the release said. The port rotation for the weekly, fixed-day ATX service is: Rotterdam, Hamburg, Le Havre, Southampton, New York, Norfolk and Charleston. Established in 1998, the Grand Alliance global container shipping consortium also comprises MISC, although the Malaysian ocean liner does not provide any trans-Atlantic services.

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Walker Bay appoints Turkish distributor

Walker Bay Boats in the US has chosen Merkur Spor to serve as its sole distributor in Turkey and Bulgaria.

The company, which is based in Tuzla, Istanbul, will carry Walker Bay's original rigid and rigid inflatable dinghies (RIDs) as well as Genesis RIBs, including the new centre console models. Merkur Spor has an established network of 44 dealers that sell top name brands from companies such as Mercury, Mariner, Quicksilver, Mercruiser and Valiant. The company also claims to be the distributor of choice to the area for Brunswick Marine, which also carries WalkerBay products in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Walker Bay Boats designs and builds small motorboats, sailboats, rowboats, RIBs and inflatable air deck rollups that are sold in more than 50 countries worldwide.

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Mustang names new general manager

Chris Heaton has been named as the new general manager at Australian boatbuilder Mustang, which was recently sold by receivers to Standard Bank.

Thirty-nine year-old Heaton has had a varied background in general business management, both in Oceania and internationally. Before entering the marine industry he worked for Caterpillar in the mining sector, most recently in Indonesia. Heaton, a keen sailor, then owned and ran Oliver Marine in New Zealand before forming a partnership with Mustang in July 2006. He is reported to be looking forward to working with Mustang's new owners and restoring the company's place in the market. One of Australia's main boatbuilders, Queensland-based Mustang went into receivership in October 2007 and has since been acquired by South African financial institution Standard Bank.

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