Anticipates improved, more efficient Asia/West Coast service

China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) has announced that that they will commence calling Maher Terminal's new container terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada during the 4th quarter of 2007. The announcement was made by Howard Finkel, Sr. Vice President. 'We at COSCO are the first carrier to sign up with Prince Rupert and are extremely pleased to be able to offer our customers a major new gateway to and from the West Coast of North America and Asia. The Port of Prince Rupert provides exporters and importers the shortest route between Asia and North America and the deepest harbor in North America.'

As part of the new program, COSCO and Canadian National Railway Company (CN) reached an agreement to provide rail service from Prince Rupert to key North American markets. This aspect of the program was developed to give COSCO customers comprehensive access to CN's on-dock, high capacity, double stack rail network.

In making the decision to go forward with the new port, COSCO considered the need for an additional gateway to the West Coast of North America. Addressing the current congestion issues, COSCO decided to take a very pro-active step and offer customers a new and innovative alternative. COSCO determined that by utilizing Prince Rupert, shippers will be able to decrease their overall transit to specific Midwest destinations by two to three days from present West Coast services.

Tim Marsh, Vice President, North American Sales, points out, ''theUS infrastructure has been heavily taxed by the ever increasing trans-Pacific container trade. There have been many good suggestions as to how to solve these infrastructure challenges but it was very obvious to us at COSCO that the most pro-active and immediate solution was Prince Rupert.'