Crowley to Launch 4th Weekly Sailing Between Florida and Northern Zone of Central America – Capacity Increased 23 Percent

2001-01-24

(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.; January 24, 2001) Crowley Liner Services will add a fourth Ro/Ro (Roll On / Roll Off) vessel, the MV Marcella II, to its service between Port Everglades in South Florida and Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador on January 25. This service enhancement will allow for four weekly, fixed-day sailings, and will increase Crowleys available vessel capacity about 23 percent or approximately 113 FEUs (Forty-Foot Equivalent Units) per week.

Crowley vessels will now sail from Port Everglades every Monday, Thursday (two sailings) and Saturday to the Northern Zone of Central America, which includes Santo Toms, Guatemala and Puerto Corts, Honduras. Overland service is provided to San Salvador, El Salvador and Managua Nicaragua via Santo Toms and Puerto Corts respectively.

Transit times are among the fastest in the trade with ships arriving three days after departure from Port Everglades to Santo Toms and four days to Puerto Corts. Northbound transit times are four days from Santo Toms and three days from Puerto Corts to Port Everglades.

Our cargo volumes in the U.S. East Coast Central America northern zone service have been strong, especially in the wearing apparel sector, which is now benefiting from the NAFTA CBI Parity legislation enacted in October, said Rinus Schepen, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Latin America. By adding a fourth vessel and fourth weekly, fixed-day sailing to this service, we can better accommodate the needs of our apparel customers and their time-sensitive shipments, as well as other shippers and their commercial cargoes.

All of the Ro/Ro ships in the service, the MV Mar Caribe, MV Crowley Senator, MV Crowley Express and the MV Marcella, can accommodate Crowleys full complement of equipment, including popular 45-foot (102 wide) trailers, 20- and 40-foot garment-on-hangar containers on chassis, and 20-foot standard and 40-foot high-cube refrigerated containers on chassis.

As for future service offerings in the Central America trade, Schepen said, we continue to monitor market conditions and will not hesitate to introduce new services or product enhancements when there is sufficient need.

Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Crowley Liner Services provides cargo common carrier services between Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the north coasts of Colombia and Venezuela. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oakland-based Crowley Maritime Corp., founded in 1892. Additional information about Crowley Maritime Corp. and its subsidiaries, Crowley Liner Services, Crowley Marine Services, Crowley Logistics and Crowley Petroleum Transport may be found on the Internet at www.crowley.com.