CP SHIPS TO RECONSIDER PRESENCE IN ASIA/EUROPE TRADE

CP SHIPS TO RECONSIDER PRESENCE IN ASIA/EUROPE TRADE

   CP Ships will decide by the end of the year whether to remain in the Asia/Europe trade.

   Although the company’s freight rates and volumes increased in the Asia/Europe trade in the third quarter, CP Ships said this operation continues to lose money.

   Ray Miles, chief executive officer of CP Ships, said the earliest opportunity for CP Ships to end its slot-charter agreement with CMA CGM on the Asia/Europe route is in March.

   “We have this under review,” he said.

   CP Ships’ Asian services incurred an operating loss of $4 million in the third quarter, and a cumulative operating deficit of $33 million in the first nine months of the year.