With the arrival of the Maersk Palermo on May18, Maersk Line returns for a weekly call to Halifax, Nova Scotia at Halterm with a new exciting technology inside some of its containers 'aquariums which will hold live seafood to be transported from Canada to Northwest Continental Europe.' This patented technology has been in development for the past five years by Maersk Line and Aqualife.' Each refrigerated container (reefer) holds 20 water tanks allowing the shellfish to remain in their natural environment.

The first containers will make their maiden voyage as a direct alternative to sending shellfish by air.' Sea transport involves substantially lower carbon emissions than airfreight.' In 2011, the French government is requiring fresh food products to be labeled with their carbon footprint.' Maersk's 'Eco-Efficiency' strategy requires all business units to pursue greater efficiency through innovation and technological advances ' with the aim of using natural resources more efficiently and with less impact on the environment.

'Maersk Line is excited to be returning to Halifax with this unique and environmentally significant technology,' said David Cardin, President, Maersk Line Canada. 'This service has a superior on time performance and schedule reliability to serve our customers.' We enjoy a positive working relationship with the port and look forward to a mutual and beneficial economic opportunity.'

The TA4 service has a 100% schedule reliability performance in 2010; in 2009, the overall schedule reliability was 96%.

The new Transatlantic (TA4) service rotation will be Montreal, Canada; Halifax, Canada; Bremerhaven, Germany; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Antwerp, Belgium; Le Havre, France; Montreal, Canada.' Maersk Line operates four vessels in this service utilizing 2900 TEU capacity vessels.

Lobster is an important export for eastern Canada; approximately 3,400 metric ton of lobster export from Canada's Atlantic coast to Europe each year. Other exports include crab, shrimp, roe, herring, fish, mussels, blueberries, forest products, peat and other agricultural products.