Contship Containerlines

Contship Containerlines was a global container carrier operating from 1969 to 2005 in the India/Pakistan, Levant, Australia/New Zealand, South America and Asia trade, mainly to and from Europe.

The transfer of the agency representation in Milan to Genoa in 1974 was accompanied by the expansion of the service portfolio to eastern Mediterranean ports.

With new agency companies in France and Italy, the start of the Eurasia Container Line and the introduction of 1000 TEU vessels into the Eagle service, 1985 was a busy year.

At the end of the second decade, Ocean Star was expanded to include an Australian and Far East leg and North European ports of call.

They made significant cost efficiencies, improved their profitability and entered new and complementary trade lanes including the US West Coast to the Mediterranean.

The same year Contship launched its Internet site and was the first container shipping line to paint its web address on the hull of all its vessels as mobile advertising.

In 2001 a new service between China and Europe was established in co-operation with CMA-CGM, however this trade had to be withdrawn from the market in early March 2003 due to lack of profitability caused by import/export imbalances, low freight rates and high fixed slot costs.

The Australasian trade lane was restructured and retonnaged, providing new 4100 TEU vessels with the capability to carry a high percentage of refrigerated containers in late 2002.

Its main business consisted of intermodal container and swapbody traffic between the UK and Italy, mostly by rail via the Channel Tunnel.

After approximately ten years in business, Contship Overland was sold to the Rotterdam-based intermodal transport operator Geest North Sea Line with effect of 1 October 2001.