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Grand Alliance and the New World Alliance Announce Co-Operation On Key Trades

Slot-exchange and joint service to begin in early 2006

TNWA Team
Left: Philip Chow, CEO of OOCL; Ron Widdows, CEO of APL; Adolf Adrion, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd Container Line; J.H. Lee, Executive VP of Hyundai Merchant Marine; Tadamasa Ishida, Executive VP of Nippon Yusen Kaisha; Hiroyuki Sato, CEO of Mitsui O.S.K Lines Ltd., and Niels Kim Balling, VP Liner Business of MISC Berhad

Hamburg, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo October 6, 2005 – The member lines of the Grand Alliance (GA) and The New World Alliance (TNWA) today announced their agreement to co-operate on key trades from early 2006.

This co-operation will significantly broaden the respective Alliances’ capabilities, network coverage and schedule frequency, with improved service efficiency and wider choice for customers of the respective Alliances.

The member lines of the Grand Alliance [Hapag-Lloyd Container Line (HLCL), MISC Berhad (MISC), Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL)], and The New World Alliance [APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Mitsui O.S.K Lines Ltd.], will initially exchange slots in the Asia-Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trades, and introduce a new jointly-operated loop on the Asia-East Coast of North America, via Panama trade. At a later stage, the members of the two Alliances may further expand the scope of their co-operation through additional joint services.

Grand Alliance representatives said that the members are committed to providing first-class service, and that the co-operation with TNWA members will create an exceptionally strong product to meet customers’ needs, as well as generate further efficiencies.

TNWA representatives said, “With the most modern fleet in the world and largest number of Post-Panamax vessels, the co-operation between the two Alliances will result in increased and enhanced services. Working together will enable us to deliver better and more flexible product and service options for our customers – particularly as new containerships delivered to our companies in 2006 and 2007 are integrated into the fleet.”

“Our focus is on working together to deliver a high-quality product across the markets where we co-operate – building increasingly comprehensive network coverage that meets the needs of our customers as they grow and develop their businesses globally,” the representatives from both Alliances said.

About APL
APL is a global container transportation company offering more than 60 weekly services and nearly 300 calls at more than 90 ports in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. It combines world-class intermodal operations with leading edge IT and e-commerce. APL is a unit of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), a global logistics and transportation company. APL Web site: www.apl.com

Media Enquiries
APL

David Glendining
+65 6371 5311
david_glendining@nol.com.sg

HMM
Mr. Jin Il Chung
+82 2 3706 5474
pccji@hmm.co.kr

MOL
Mr. Tsuyoshi Yoshida
+81 3 3587 7422
lapln@mail.mol.co.jp

OOC
Mr. Teddy Fung
+852 2833 3832
teddy.fung@oocl.com

HLCL
Mr. Klaus Heims
Tel:+49 40 3001 2263
klaus.heims@hlag.de

MISC
Berhad: Ms. Fiona Clare Pereira
+603 2275 2701
fclarepe@miscbhd.com

NYK
Mr. Takahiro Kikuchi
+81 3 3284 5437
takahiro_kikuchi@jp.nykline.com



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