[7] In 1975, NOL then entered the Asia-Europe trade as part of the ACE Group consortium with partners OOCL, K Line, COSCO and Franco-Belgian Services, known as the "third force" in the container-shipping world.

In 1997, NOL made a US$825 million acquisition of American President Lines (APL), whose heritage dates back to 1848.

The company focused on managing global supply chains in 2001 when APL Logistics was established as a separate business unit.

[8] In 2003, NOL completed the divestment of its tankering businesses AET and NAS, to concentrate on the company's core container shipping and logistics services.

CMA launched an all-cash voluntary conditional general offer for outstanding NOL shares at SG$1.30 a piece.