Partner Shipping will introduce its third RoRo vessel on the NAPA (North America Pacific Asia) service in February 2010. The new-building, M/V Ocean Challenger, has been chartered on a long term basis by Partner Shipping from Mitsui & Co in Japan.

The M/V Ocean Challenger has been designed to carry 6.400 RT cars and RoRo capacity. The vessel is needed to meet the anticipated demand for the fast growing NAPA Service.

Helge Helvik, Commercial Director of Partner Shipping, stated that “the confirmation in December from Chrysler that Partner Shipping had been chosen to transport their cars was another reason to add more capacity and frequency to the service. We will increase the schedule frequency of the NAPA service to every 20 days and capacity by more than 30%”.

Partner Shipping and its partner, Praxis Logistics, are planning to introduce a fourth vessel on the NAPA  service within 2010.  This will provide its customers with a twice monthly service between Mexico, USA, Japan, Korea, China, Singapore Australia and New Zealand.

The M/V Ocean Challenger  is a high-quality, energy efficient  Japanese-built  vessel.  It is consistent  with Partner Shipping’s objective of providing its customers with a reliable, high quality and environmentally responsible solutions to their logistics needs. We expect that Ocean Challenger  will further contribute to the NAPA service’s impressive reputation in the market and help to maintain its record of  zero damage statistics.

“At 200 meters in length, she is amongst the larger PCTC vessels and is one of the most fuel efficient on the high seas. We are pleased to welcome M/V Ocean Challenger into our fleet and the NAPA service, says Lars Ingeberg, Managing Director of Partner Shipping”.

For additional information please contact:
Lars Ingeberg, Managing Director:    +47 90 98 64 55
Helge Helvik, Commercial Director:    +47 91 68 33 57