EVERGREEN JOINS CROWLEY/APL/LYKES SOUTH AMERICA SERVICE

   Evergreen Marine Corp. said Friday it will join the East Coast of North and South America joint service of Crowley (Hamburg Sud), APL and Lykes.
   Evergreen will withdraw its smaller chartered vessels in the trade and
join the joint the joint weekly service, which operates six vessels with
2,300 TEUs of average capacity.
   The service makes southbound calls at New York, Norfolk, Charleston, Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Paranagua and Buenos Aires. Northbound, the joint link calls Buenos Aires, Rio Grande, Santos, Rio de Janeiro and New York.
   Marcel Chang, president of Evergreen Marine, said joining the alliance "in a struggling trade is a rational and responsible step for our company," adding that the service improves Evergreen’s transit times and cost effectiveness.
   In addition, Evergreen and its Panamanian affiliate Unigreen Marine S.A. have expanded CAS service to add direct calls between Miami to Rio Haina, La Guaira and Puerto Cabello. The weekly service will use three B-type vessel, starting in January.
   The rotation of the revised CAS service will be Colon, Cartagena,
Barranquilla/Curacao (alternating), Puerto Cabello, La Guaira, Miami, Rio Haina, La Guira, Puerto Cabello and Colon, Panama.
   Transshipment will be offered at Panama to connect with Evergreen’s east and westbound round-the-world services.